I am a strong advocate of Ayurveda, a holistic lifestyle: CJI DY Chandrachud
New Delhi, Oct 17: Advocating Ayurveda as essential for maintaining holistic health and wellbeing, Chief Justice of India D Y Chandrachud on Thursday said his association with Ayurveda began when he contracted COVID during the pandemic period and relied solely on the traditional system of medical treatment and holistic approaches for recovery.
Addressing the International Conference on Advancements in Research and Global Opportunities for Holistic Ayurveda organised by All India Institute of Ayurveda (AIIA), he said during the second and third waves of the pandemic, when he had contracted COVID he did not take allopathic medicine at all.
"I am a strong advocate of Ayurveda and a holistic lifestyle. My association with AYUSH began during the COVID-19 pandemic, a time when the value of preventive healthcare became more important than ever.
"During the second and third waves of the pandemic when I contracted COVID, I did not take any allopathic medicine at all. Instead, I relied solely on Ayurvedic treatments and holistic approaches, further solidifying my belief in its healing potential," the CJI said.
He said Ayurveda is a traditional system of medicine that emphasises balance in the body, mind and spirit. Detoxification and life optimisation are foundational principles in Ayurveda and essential for achieving long-term health, he said, underlining that in today's fast-paced world, it is also a strategy for managing stress and improving the quality of life.
CJI Chandrachud highlighted four key postulates as a curtain raiser for the conference. Firstly, he said there is a need to discuss if our infrastructure is ready to support Ayurveda's growing demand.
He said the infrastructure at the AIIA is nothing short of impressive. With two campuses and six extension centres, AIIA has successfully served over 2.8 million patients through 44 specialty outpatient departments (OPDs), he said.
The CJI said this achievement not only highlights the scale of AIIA's operations but also highlights its commitment to delivering high-quality care to a diverse population. Moreover, AIIA offers advanced postgraduate and PhD programmes, which are vital in nurturing the next generation of Ayurvedic practitioners and researchers, he added.
"What truly stands out is AIIA's dedication to expanding its reach through its extension centres located in various prestigious sites, including one situated at our Supreme Court. These centres not only provide crucial patient care but also play an essential role in educating the public about the benefits of Ayurveda," Chandrachud said.
By enhancing accessibility and awareness in such influential locations, AIIA helps demystify Ayurvedic practices and promotes a deeper understanding of holistic healthcare among citizens, legal professionals and policymakers alike, he said.
He emphasised that research also plays a pivotal role in strengthening the foundation of Ayurvedic practices. "It allows us to validate and adapt ancient wisdom to meet contemporary health challenges," he said.
The launch of the Ayush Research Portal marks a significant advancement for Ayurvedic research and education, he said, adding that this comprehensive platform houses an impressive collection of over 43,000 research articles, serving as a robust resource for scholars, practitioners and anyone interested in the scientific validation of Ayush principles and practices.
He stressed on ensuring equity and equality in access to Ayurveda. "Equity and equality in healthcare are fundamental principles that ensure every individual has the opportunity to receive the medical attention they deserve," he said.
Recent reports from the National Sample Survey indicate that 95 per cent of rural and 96 per cent urban Indians are now aware of the traditional systems of medicine. This growing awareness not only reflects the increasing demand for Ayush systems but it also highlights the expanding role of Ayurveda in the health and wellness landscape of India, the CJI said.
Access to essential treatments is a fundamental aspect of the right to health, closely aligned with Article 21 of our Constitution, he said.
This commitment to equitable healthcare is further supported by international law, including the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR), which recognises the right to the highest attainable standard of health, he said.
The Article 12 of the ICESCR obligates states to take necessary steps to ensure that everyone can enjoy this right, reinforcing the importance of equitable access to medical care for all individuals, regardless of their geographical location or socioeconomic status, the CJI said.
"Given this context, there is a pressing need for equity in healthcare access across all communities," he said, as he urged all stakeholders to collaborate in creating initiatives that ensure equitable access to Ayurvedic treatment and education.
One of the drawbacks of modern medicine, he highlighted, is the ease with which the drugs are available over the counters and this ease of availability of drugs is one of the serious problems which is confronting our society.
"Because we tend to self medicate on drugs which should be used as last option, not as the first option... Almost every little virus that we contract on the turn of the season is self limiting because the power of the body and mind which nature has given it is so strong.
"Yet in today's time patience is limited and people are becoming less and less tolerant. People are driven to accepting solutions which may work overnight but may damage the body mind in the long run. And that is where I believe that Ayurveda has a great potential to remind people not just to attend to the problems of the moment but to speak of your life and suggest remedies which will have a long lasting benefit to our existence," he said.
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Oath-taking ceremony of first BJP govt in Bengal on May 9; Modi, Shah likely to attend
Kolkata (PTI): The oath-taking ceremony of the first BJP government in West Bengal will be held at Brigade Parade Ground here on May 9, marking the saffron camp’s arrival in power in a state after decades on the political fringes.
The ceremony, scheduled to begin at 10 am, is expected to witness the presence of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Union Home Minister Amit Shah, BJP president Nitin Nabin, several Union ministers and chief ministers of BJP- and NDA-ruled states, party sources said.
“The new BJP government will take oath on May 9 at 10 am at Brigade Parade Ground,” state BJP president Samik Bhattacharya announced on Wednesday.
Even as the BJP leadership kept its cards close to the chest on the chief ministerial face, Leader of the Opposition Suvendu Adhikari has emerged as a frontrunner in internal discussions after cementing his position as the party’s principal mass leader in Bengal politics.
Adhikari, once among Mamata Banerjee’s closest lieutenants and a key architect of the TMC’s rural expansion in districts such as Purba Medinipur, crossed over to the BJP ahead of the 2021 assembly elections and went on to defeat Banerjee in Nandigram in one of Bengal’s fiercest political battles.
Five years later, he again found himself at the centre of Bengal’s political churn by beating Banerjee in her own turf at Bhabanipur by over 15,000 votes.
Other names for the CM post doing the rounds include Bhattacharya, Union minister Sukanta Majumdar and former Rajya Sabha MP Swapan Dasgupta, though party insiders indicated that the leadership was inclined towards projecting a “bhumiputra” face rooted in Bengal’s linguistic and cultural ethos.
During the campaign, Shah repeatedly asserted that the BJP’s chief minister in Bengal would be a “son of the soil”, born and educated in the state, in an attempt to blunt the TMC’s sustained attack that the BJP represented an “outsider” political culture alien to Bengal’s social and intellectual traditions.
The BJP bagged 207 of the 294 assembly seats in the recently concluded elections, ending the Trinamool Congress’s uninterrupted 15-year rule and scripting the saffron party’s biggest breakthrough in a state where it once struggled to open its electoral account.
Significantly, the swearing-in ceremony will be held on the 25th day of Baisakh in the Bengali calendar — observed across the state as Rabindra Jayanti, the birth anniversary of Rabindranath Tagore — lending the event a deeper cultural symbolism.
According to BJP leaders, the choice of the date is aimed at embedding the party’s historic rise within Bengal’s cultural imagination and countering the long-standing perception battle over identity and belonging.
Over the last decade, the BJP has steadily attempted to appropriate and reinterpret icons of Bengal’s cultural nationalism — from Tagore and Swami Vivekananda to Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose and Syama Prasad Mookerjee — as part of a broader ideological effort to expand its emotional and political footprint in the state.
Party insiders said the leadership was also conscious of the need to balance Bengal’s competing regional aspirations while choosing the chief ministerial face, with discussions also taking place around whether greater representation should be accorded to north Bengal, a region where the BJP has made substantial electoral gains over successive elections.
A meeting of the newly elected BJP MLAs has been convened on May 8 evening, party sources said, though the leadership remained tight-lipped over the final choice.
The Brigade Parade Ground ceremony is expected to mark not merely a transfer of power, but a defining moment in Bengal’s political history, the culmination of the BJP’s long ideological and organisational march from the margins to the centre of power in a state that had for decades resisted the saffron surge seen elsewhere in India.
