Parliamentary Consultative Committee of the Ministry of Ayush meets on Yoga and Naturopathy

📌 Summary:

• Union MoS (IC) for Ayush, Prataprao Jadhav, chaired the fourth meeting of the Parliamentary Consultative Committee of the Ministry of Ayush in New Delhi
• The meeting focused on "Yoga and Naturopathy in India" and the Government's initiatives to strengthen preventive healthcare and the global outreach of India's traditional health systems
• The Minister noted the UN General Assembly's 2014 declaration of 21 June as the International Day of Yoga, now celebrated in more than 190 countries
• Yoga and Naturopathy are increasingly recognised as effective complementary approaches for managing non-communicable diseases, stress and mental health disorders
• Sector status: more than 70 BNYS colleges and over 5,000 Yoga training institutes function across the country
• The Morarji Desai National Institute of Yoga has trained over 6 lakh Yoga volunteers; more than 7 lakh Yoga professionals and volunteers have been certified under the Yoga Certification Board framework
• The sector contributes to the wellness economy, employment generation, wellness tourism and global cultural outreach

🎯 UPSC Relevance: GS2 (Polity) — Parliamentary Consultative Committees as a mechanism of executive-legislature interface; GS2 (Governance) — preventive healthcare policy.

📝 Prelims Facts:

• The International Day of Yoga (21 June) was declared by the UN General Assembly in 2014; celebrated in 190+ countries
• BNYS = Bachelor of Naturopathy and Yogic Sciences; 70+ BNYS colleges in India
• The Morarji Desai National Institute of Yoga has trained over 6 lakh Yoga volunteers
• Parliamentary Consultative Committees are attached to ministries and chaired by the concerned minister

🔑 Key Term: Parliamentary Consultative Committee — a committee attached to a ministry, comprising Members of Parliament and chaired by the minister concerned, providing a forum for informal discussion of policies and programmes (distinct from a parliamentary standing committee).