New Delhi: Giving details on the number of AYUSH colleges in the country at present, the Union Minister of Health and Family Welfare, Dr Harsh Vardhan recently informed that there are a total of 733 AYUSH based educational institutes in India.
The information surfaced during a recent Lok Sabha session wherein Dr Harsh Vardhan presented the data on the number of AYUSH colleges in India which shows that out of the total 733 institutes, there are 414 Ayurveda based, 248 Homeopathy, 55 Unani, 13 siddha, and 3 Sowa Rigpa based colleges.
According to the figures, the maximum number of AYUSH colleges are in the state of Maharashtra with 146 institutes (82 Ayurveda, 6 Unani and 58 Homeopathy) followed by Karnataka with 101 colleges (77 Ayurveda, 6 Unani , 18 Homeopathy). Third comes Uttar Pradesh with 99 colleges (69 Ayurveda, 16 Unani , 13 Homeopathy).
Gujarat has 69 AYUSH colleges including 35 Ayurveda colleges (GMCs) and 34 of Homeopathy. Next comes Madhya Pradesh with 53 institutes (24 Ayurveda, 4 Unani , 25 Homeopathy) followed by Tamil Nadu with 33 AYUSH colleges.
Bihar follows the list by 28 AYUSH colleges. While Kerala and Rajasthan have 26 AYUSH colleges each. Punjab has 22 AYUSH colleges including 17 Ayurveda institutes.
Uttarakhand has 19 AYUSH colleges including 16 Ayurveda and 2 homeopathy institutes.
The states of West Bengal, Telangana and Andhra Pradesh have 17, 13 and 11 AYUSH based institutes respectively. Haryana and Odisha have 12 AYUSH based institutes each. Chhattisgarh has 10 colleges for AYUSH students while Delhi apparently has 7.
The list is followed by Jammu and Kashmir and Jharkhand, both having 6 AYUSH colleges each whereas Assam and Himachal Pradesh have only 4 such institutes.
The states of Goa, Chandigarh and Meghalaya, each have only 2 AYUSH colleges all having 1 Ayurveda and 1 Homeopathy college each.
With only one AYUSH based colleges stand the states of Arunachal Pradesh, Pondicherry and Sikkim, with 1 Homeopathy, 1 Ayurveda and 1 Sowa Rigpa institute respectively.
The data further shows that the maximum number of Ayurveda and Homeopathy colleges are in the state of Maharashtra with 82 and 58 respectively. UP has the most Unani based institutes with 16; while Tamil Nadu has over 12 Siddha colleges.
State/UT-Wise, Stream Wise & curriculum-wise details of AYUSH Colleges across the Country

Sl.
No.
State/UT
Ayurveda
Siddha
Unani
Sowa
Rigpa
Homoeopathy
Total
1.
Andhra Pradesh
03
00
01
00
07
11
2.
Arunachal Pradesh
00
00
00
00
01
01
3.
Assam
01
00
00
00
03
04
4.
Bihar
08
00
05
00
15
28
5.
Chandigarh
01
00
00
00
01
02
6.
Chhattisgarh
06
00
01
00
03
10
7.
NCT of Delhi
03
00
02
00
02
07
8.
Goa
01
00
00
00
01
02
9.
Gujarat
34
00
00
00
35
69
10.
Haryana
11
00
00
00
01
12
11.
Himachal Pradesh
03
00
00
00
01
04
12.
Jammu and Kashmir
02
00
03
01
00
06
13.
Jharkhand
01
00
00
00
05
06
14.
Karnataka
77
00
06
00
18
101
15.
Kerala
18
01
01
00
06
26
16.
Madhya Pradesh
24
00
04
00
25
53
17.
Maharashtra
82
00
06
00
58
146
18.
Meghalaya
01
00
00
00
01
02
19.
Orissa
06
00
00
00
06
12
20.
Pondicherry
01
00
00
00
00
01
21.
Punjab
17
00
01
00
04
22
22.
Rajasthan
13
00
03
00
10
26
23.
Sikkim
00
00
00
01
00
01
24.
Tamil Nadu
07
12
01
00
13
33
25.
Telangana
05
00
03
00
05
13
26.
Uttar Pradesh
69
00
16
01
13
99
27.
Uttarakhand
16
00
01
00
02
19
28.
West Bengal
04
00
01
00
12
17
Total :
414
13
55
3
248
733

The Ministry of AYUSH has given the permission to set up new AYUSH Medical Colleges during the year 2018-19 & 2019-20 are as under:
Private Colleges
Govt. Colleges
Total
2018-19
Ayurveda
05
01
06
Unani
--
--
--
Siddha
--
--
--
Homoeopathy
13
01
14
Sowa-Rigpa
--
--
--
2019-20
Ayurveda
11
01
12
Unani
--
--
--
Siddha
02
--
02
Homoeopathy
09
02
11
Sowa-Rigpa
--
03
03
Further, on the question asking the steps taken by Government to promote AYUSH and whether adequate publicity is being given to it and the response of the common man in villages and cities in this regard, the Minister replied, "To promote Ayurved as well as other AYUSH systems amongst people within and outside the country, various IEC activities are being taken up with adequate dissemination of information through electronic, press and social media. On 21st of June, every year, International Yoga Day is organized at national and international level. International and national conferences, workshops, stake-holders meets, industry conclave have been organized on regular basis. Ministry of AYUSH has issued document titled "Guidelines for Registered AYUSH practitioners of respective system of AYUSH for COVID 19" The Ministry of AYUSH had launched a three-month awareness campaign on "AYUSH for Immunity" on 14.08.2020, with the objective of acquainting the people with the strengths of various Ayush-based solutions including Yoga for enhancing immunity and preventing diseases. Interdisciplinary AYUSH Research & Development task Force has been constituted, which is carrying out the activities related to scientific validation of work of AYUSH Medicines on fast track."
He said, National AYUSH Mission is the flagship scheme of Ministry under which grants-in-aid is provided to States / UTs to take up various activities to develop and promote Ayurved as well as other AYUSH healthcare facilities. Ministry of AYUSH is adopting one village per bloc as AYUSH Gram for adoption of method and practice of AYUSH way of life and interventions of health care. In AYUSH Gram AYUSH based lifestyle are promoted through behavioral changes, communication, training of village health workers towards identification and use of local medicinal herbs."
" To streamline/facilitate research of AYUSH medicines, total 05 Research Councils dedicated to different AYUSH systems or healthcare are functioning under Ministry of AYUSH. CCRH under the villages Swasthya Rakshan program is adopted 55 villages, where local populations are being provided health care at their door step," he added.