The yoga and naturopathy students along with their professors and teachers held a protest on 12th February to request the Central government for making the age-old system of alternative medicine, a part of the National Commission for Indian System of Medicine Bill, 2019 (NCIM).

"We are doing a silent protest along with 700 students and 50 professors to request the Centre to include us in the proposed Indian system of Bill, that is National commission for Indian system of medicine," Dr Shivaprasad, one of the teachers participating in the protest, told ANI. Dr Sujatha, another teacher, said, "Mahatma Gandhi had said that yoga and naturopathy medicine need to be included in the Indian system of medicine. As a mark of respect to him, we should include the system of naturopathy and yoga in the present Bill."

Meanwhile, one of the students in the protest, said, "We feel that yoga, which is 5,000 years old and naturopathy, which is a century-old, has a substantial effect in treatment. So for this system to not be included in the NCIM Bills is unfair." On January 29, the union cabinet had approved official amendments to the National Commission for Indian System of Medicine Bill, 2019 (NCIM), which is pending in the Rajya Sabha.

An official release said that the proposed legislation will ensure necessary regulatory reforms in the field of Indian System of Medicine education. "The commission will promote the availability of affordable healthcare services in all parts of the country. It has been structured to streamline the functions related to academic standards, evaluation, assessment and accreditation of educational institutions pertaining to the Indian System of Medicine," the release said.