The Hindu Business Line : Ayurveda varsity taking shape at Pandalam

THE picturesque 130 acres of land near Pandalam in Pathanamthitta district, which housed Kerala's largest sugar mill for about two decades until the mid 1980s, is now in the process of being converted into an Ayurveda University (deemed) with modern facilities.

As a prelude to this, a 100-bed Ayurveda hospital has already started functioning in the renovated buildings of the sugar mill. All existing infrastructure has been renovated and remodelled to house some of the offices of the proposed Medical College and hospitals.

Final permission from the Central Government is expected any time, Mr Pandalam Sivankutty, Chairman of the Mannam Ayurveda Medical College Cooperative Society, told Business Line. Already, the green signal had been given to start the medical college with an intake of 50 students from the next academic year, he said.

The fee structure would be as per the decision of the State Government. It would have all the modern facilities for research in the Ayurveda system of medicine, including satellite communication and the infrastructure for clinical trials, besides a sophisticated and modern ayurvedic drug-manufacturing unit.

The State Government, which has a stake in the project, is extending support from time to time, he said. However, about 96 per cent of the shareholders of the society are institutions, establishments connected with the Nair Service Society (NSS). A 15-member directors' board will manage the Medical College and related institutions. Six members of the board would be government nominees, including the General Manager-cum-Secretary, while the rest would be elected.

A unique feature of this medical college is the existence of a well-maintained and fully-grown medicinal plants, trees and herbal garden spread over 40 acres of land. Besides, the area is surrounded by water on three sides with a panoramic view, he said. Given this beautiful and healthy environment, the Society has plans to introduce Ayurvedic tourism and for this purpose construction of a helipad has also been included in the project.

Under the initiative of the State Government, the State Farming Corporation had developed the medicinal/herbal garden here.

Also, the entire buildings for the medical college, hospital research facilities and hostel and land development etc would be done as per Vastu Sastra. The State Government-owned Vastu Vidya Gurukulam at Aranmula designed the buildings and prepared the project report. The total cost of the project is estimated at Rs 10 crore, Mr Sivankutty said.

When the Mannam Cooperative Sugar Mill was commissioned in 1964 with a daily production capacity of 1,500 tonnes of sugar, it was the biggest in South India. As sugarcane production in the State declined in subsequent years when its cultivation became unremunerative, the mill became unviable, leading to its closure in 1985. Thereafter, for a few years, the facilities were used for blending IMFL, which was also stopped following the ban on arrack production in the State.

With the new proposition, the sleepy hamlet will get rejuvenated, becoming a centre of excellence in Ayurveda education and research in the country, it is hoped.

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