In what is being seen as a contentious move by some members of the medical fraternity, the government has issued a notification that allows Ayurvedic doctors to be trained and legally authorised to perform 58 surgeries — this includes 39 general surgical procedures and 19 procedures involving the eye, ear, nose and throat.

This came as the Central Council of Indian Medicine which is a statutory body that comes under the AYUSH Ministry, amended the Indian Medicine Central Council (Post Graduate Ayurveda Education) Regulations, 2016, to include the regulation to allow PG students of Ayurveda to practice general surgery.

Although the AYUSH ministry has denied allegations of any policy shift, many are looking at this move by the Centre as a sign of an impending paradigm shift in healthcare from modern medicine to the traditional form, or an attempt to mix both strains of medicines.

The Indian Medical Association or the IMA was one of the first to come down heavily against this decision saying that this "retrograde step" of mixing modern medicine with tradition systems will be resisted at all costs. Why is the move garnering controversy? What are the concerns with this move? Tune in to The Big Story!

Producer and Host: Shorbori Purkayastha Guests: Vaishali Sood, Editor of Quint FIT Dr Ashwini Setya a Gastroenterologist and Programme Director in Delhi’s Max Super Speciality Hospital

Editor: Shelly Walia

Music: Big Bang Fuzz

Listen to The Big Story podcast on:

Apple: https://apple.co/2AYdLIl

Saavn: http://bit.ly/2oix78C

Google Podcasts: http://bit.ly/2ntMV7S

Spotify: https://spoti.fi/2IyLAUQ

Deezer: http://bit.ly/2Vrf5Ng Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices