Lucknow: Uttar Pradesh is set to strengthen its health and wellness sector with a focus on Ayush-based services to further boost tourism across key destinations in the state. Chief minister Yogi Adityanath on Sunday directed officials to take effective steps for implementing the recently finalised Ayush health and wellness policy during a review meeting of the Ayush Department.The chief minister said the state should move beyond a treatment-based approach and develop its facilities into major wellness destinations at the national and international levels by integrating Ayush, yoga, Panchakarma, naturopathy and wellness services. He said the model should combine Ayush services with modern management practices, quality standards and tourism so that healthcare, employment and investment grow together.Yogi said Uttar Pradesh’s spiritual and cultural heritage, along with its traditions of Ayurveda and yoga and established religious tourism circuits, should be linked with the Ayush wellness sector. He said there is strong potential for wellness- and healing-based tourism around major religious centres such as Varanasi, Ayodhya and Mathura.Officials informed the meeting that the state currently has 3,953 Ayush health units, 1,034 Ayushman Arogya Mandirs, 225 yoga wellness centres and 19 Ayush medical colleges in operation. The chief minister directed that Ayush services be expanded in a quality-oriented and standardised manner. He called for phased action under the public-private partnership model to develop modern Ayush wellness centres, 100-bed integrated Ayush treatment and training centres, and upgraded Ayush colleges.Emphasising private sector participation, Yogi asked officials to create a single-window system and provide platforms for faster approvals for entrepreneurs interested in investing in the sector. Officials said the proposed policy includes investment-based subsidies, operational incentives, interest subsidies, stamp duty exemptions and incentives linked to employment generation.The chief minister said Mirzapur, Gonda, Meerut, Agra and Basti require special attention as Ayush services remain weak in these districts. He directed officials to improve OPD services in Ayush institutions, ensure adequate medicine supply and promote traditional therapies such as Panchakarma.He also asked officials to speed up research and innovation at Mahayogi Guru Gorakhnath Ayush University in Gorakhpur, complete permanent faculty appointments soon and develop the university as a centre of excellence in Ayush.
