Centre to set up medicinal plant processing zone at Tuticorin

Chennai, Feb 26 (UNI) The Union Government will set up a natural medicinal plant processing zone at Tuticorin in Tamil Nadu soon to promote the export of medicinal plants, Union Health and Family Welfare Minister Dr Anbumani Ramadoss said today.

In a chat with newsmen here, after inaugurating 'Arogya-Chennai 2006,' a three-day comprehensive fair of traditional medicine, he said four such zones would be set up across the country as enormous growth was expected in the export of medicinal plants and herbs in the coming years.

In the next 45 years the export of medicinal plants and herbs would witness a turnover of five trillion dollars, he added.

He said the plant processing zones, besides providing seeds, funds and technology to farmers, would buy back the plants from them after cultivation.

The Minister also pointed out that Health Ministers from seven different countries, including South Africa, Italy, Hungary and Chile had asked him to familiarise Indian medicines in their countries.

He said efforts were being made to form a Traditional Knowledge Digital Library (TKDL) to protect the patent rights for the past three years and a data of about 1,15,000 traditional plants and practices had been registered in the library so far.

In his address, Union Communication and Information Technology Minister Dayanidhi Maran called for the integration of Health and IT departments to provide better healthcare to the public.

He said plans were afoot to issue e-cards to the patients so that their case history could be made available in the hospitals across the country wherever they go and get the treatment.

A joint task force of both IT and Health departments would be formed soon, he said adding that his department was working towards to link one lakh villages through e-governance to issue birth, death and community certificates.

UNI RV ROY RL BD1643