National Institute of Sowa Rigpa approved in Leh by Union Cabinet

The union cabinet has approved setting up the National Institute of Sowa-Rigpa in Leh as an autonomous organization. After Ladakh was proclaimed as a Union Territory on October 31, 2019, after the bifurcation of Jammu and Kashmir this is the first decision taken by the union cabinet on the development of Ladakh.

The Sowa-Rigpa is a traditional Tibetan system of medicine which is practiced in the Himalayan belt of India and is popular in the states of Sikkim, Arunachal Pradesh, Himachal Pradesh, and West Bengal’s Darjeeling along with the Union Territory of Ladakh. The proposal was approved by the cabinet chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi which has approved the establishment of the NISR as an autonomous body under the Ministry of AYUSH at an estimated Rs. 47. 25 crore. The cabinet has also approved the creation of the director post in Level 14 to oversee the implementation of the project from the stage of construction itself.

The National Institute of Sowa-Rigpa will provide a momentum to the revival of the Sowa-Rigpa medicine system in the Indian sub-continent and also provide opportunities for the students of the traditional medicinal system in India as well as other countries.

According to an official statement released, the institution will be set up as an autonomous national institute under the Ministry of AYUSH with a mandate of undertaking interdisciplinary education and research programmes in Sowa-Rigpa, in collaboration with premier national and international institutes along with facilitating the integration of the different systems of medicine.

The harmony among the existing Sowa-Rigpa Institutions which are – Central University of Tibetan Studies (Sarnath, Varanasi) and Central Institute of Buddhist Studies (Leh, Ladakh) under the administrative control of the Ministry of Culture and NISR will be established after NISR is set up.

The official statement released also mentions that the NISR will facilitate quality education, scientific validation, quality control and standardization along with safety evaluation of Sowa-Rigpa products. NISR will also help standardize Sowa-Rigpa based tertiary health delivery and also promote interdisciplinary research and education of Sowa-Rigpa at the undergraduate, postgraduate and postdoctoral levels.

The statement has also mentioned that the National Institute of Sowa Rigpa will identify the best Sowa-Rigpa treatment which includes standard procedures within the framework of the traditional principal and possible co-relation with bio-molecular western medicine in providing healthcare facilities to the general public.

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