Health minister Veena George inaugurating two-day national workshop on ‘IT Solutions for AYUSH Sector’ organised by National AYUSH Mission Kerala in association with State’s AYUSH Department and Union Ministry of AYUSH at Kumarakom on Thursday. Also seen are Kavita Jain, Joint Secretary, Ministry of AYUSH, Ranjan Kumar, Principal Secretary, Dept of AYUSH, Food Safety and Drug Administration, Subodh Kumar , Director in charge of IT, Ministry of AYUSH, D Sajith Babu, State Mission Director, NAM Kerala T K Vijayan, Principal and Controlling Officer, Homoeopathy Medical Education, Govt of Kerala.

The Union AYUSH Ministry is planning to introduce a centralised website system that can be used by all states to improve national-level knowledge-sharing, Union AYUSH Secretary Vaidya Rajesh Kotecha has said.

Several State AYUSH missions have implemented their own IT solutions. However, moving to a centralised system will add to the effectiveness of such knowledge-sharing on a national basis, he said adding that digital health platforms and AI tools were “crucial” in the modern era, regardless of the treatment methods.

He was speaking at a national workshop on IT Solutions in the AYUSH Sector’ in Kottayam, a two-day event aimed at ushering in a digital framework to give a new direction to India’s ancient health systems.

The brand-new ‘Nivesh’ portal is in place to tap the investment opportunities in the AYUSH sector. Launched two-and-a-half months ago by the Ministry of AYUSH and Invest India, the online site is being made available to all States and union territories, he said.

Calling for innovative IT interventions to increase the popularity of AYUSH across the country, the workshop advocated for interstate cooperation to bridge the digital gap for easy accessibility to Ayurveda and other indigenous treatment systems.

In her inaugural address, Kerala Health Minister Veena George said Kerala has developed a comprehensive wellness system rooted in ancient Indian texts dating back to more than 3,500 years. This holistic approach continues to be firmly embedded in Kerala’s healthcare delivery and management, serving as a living testament to the enduring wisdom of our traditional practices,” she added.

Bridging the digital divide is important to ensure that its benefits reached all sections of society. The implementation of centralised IT solutions will bring about revolutionary changes in the AYUSH sector she said adding that Kerala has come a long way in digitisation.

Kerala Additional Chief Secretary (Health) Rajan N Khobragade, pointed out that the AYUSH sector’s responsibility was not only to treat patients but to ensure a healthy society overall. “This requires a large amount of data collection. For this, we need IT solutions using modern technology in the AYUSH sector across the country.”

NAM Kerala Director D Sajith Babu said the workshop sought to guard against leaving out any State or union territory in the AYUSH sector’s digital services. IT solutions will improve transparency and provide the best treatment system to the public, he added.

Published on September 18, 2025