Chennai:
Setting aside an order by Centre,Madras High Court today permitted the Tamil Nadu Government SiddhaMedical College and Government Ayurveda Medical College in Tirunelveli and Kanyakumari districts respectively,to continueconducting classes and exams for current academic year.
By a January 20 last order, the Joint Secretary in the Union Health Ministy, Department of AYUSH, had rejected therequests by the two institutions for permission to conduct the classes and examination for academic year 2011-12.
Justice V Ramasubramanian said a government college teaching alternative systems of medicine should be seen in thecontext of the initiatives taken by several governments globally, to nurture, protect and preserve alternativeindigenous systems of medicine.
The judge was giving his ruling on petitions filed by T.Arutselvam, a student of MD (Siddha) and 26 other studentsin the degree course in Ayurveda.
In its impugned order, relating to the Siddha college, the Centre said as against the requirement of 64 teachers, thecollege had only 60 and as against the bed occupancy of 50 per cent for post graduate courses and 40 per cent forundergraduate courses, the college had only 38.29 per cent.
Instead of developing and encouraging indigenous systems of medicine,the AYUSH departments attempt may becounter-productive and end up with the closure of these colleges, the Centre said.
Allowing the petitions,the Judge said the impugned order could not be sustained both on factual as well as legal basis.
He directed the AYUSH department to issue fresh orders in respect of both colleges within two weeks, keeping in mindthe fact that the institutions satisfied the requirements of regulation 5 (conditions for eligibility of an existing medical college to obtain permission) as it stood.