JU to offer course in Ayurveda

Kolkata, Jun 28 (UNI) For the first time in Eastern India, Jadavpur University would offer a four-year degree course in Ayurveda.

The course, which meets the growing demand for traditional medicine, would be the second of its kind in the country after Gujarat.

The course would be offered by the Bengal Institute of Pharmaceutical Sciences (BIPS) in joint venture with West Bengal Health Department under public-private-partnership model.

"We will provide the academic direction for the degree course in B.Pharm (Ayurveda)," Prof Biswanath Sa, Head of the Dept. of Pharmaceutical Technology, JU, said.

"The state government will provide the infrastructural support at the premises of the State Pharmacopoeial Laboratory and Pharmacy of India Medicine at Kalyani in Nadia district," he said.

"The Kalyani campus has modern sophisticated equipment, an ayurvedic medicine-manufacturing centre and a medicinal plant garden," he said.

In the first year, 60 students would be selected through the joint entrance examination for the new course.

India currently exports Rs 450 crore of herbal drugs. The exports can grow to Rs 3000 crore if properly nurtured, he said.

UNI TJP PL AB 1512