Ministry of AYUSH Signs MoU with MeitY to Digitalise AYUSH Sector

A Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was signed yesterday between the Ministry of Ayush and the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) for three years of technical support to the Ministry of Ayush for the digitalization of the Ayush Sector under the Ayush Grid project. This MoU is a continuation of the previous MoU, which was signed in 2019.

On behalf of both Ministries, Vaidya Rajesh Kotecha, Secretary Ayush, and Shri Alkesh Kumar Sharma, Secretary MeitY, signed the MoU. It was decided that both Ministries will continue to collaborate, and MeitY, along with MeitY-affiliated organizations, will provide all technical support needed for the Ayush Grid project, including the adoption of emerging technologies.

As part of the Digital India Program, the Ministry of Ayush has conceptualized the 'Ayush Grid' Project, which leverages 'Information and Technology' to transform operational efficiency, improve service delivery, and improve service quality.

The Ayush Grid platform is intended to serve as the IT backbone, allowing for the integration of all stakeholders and functions/services related to Ayush health-care systems. Ayush Grid is the proposed central IT platform that will provide multiple IT services for all Ayush systems of medicine, including Ayurveda, Yoga & Naturopathy, Unani, Siddha, Sowa Rigpa, and Homeopathy, across functional areas such as healthcare delivery, education, research, capacity building, drug licensing and standardization, and media outreach.

According to the previously signed MoU, organizations under MeitY such as NeGD supported the development of the AyushSanjivani mobile application, Monitoring dashboard, BISAG-N for the development of Ayush GIS, Ayush education-related modules, DIC for the development of Ayush Information Hub, Ministry website, Ayusoft, C-DAC for Ayush doctor training.

It is worth noting that NeGD and BISAG-N contributed significantly to the finalization of various technical documents such as the Project's technical solution design and DPR. The MoU signed yesterday will be critical in leveraging technical support from MeitY in the Ministry of Ayush's Ayush Grid project.

A High-Level Advisory Committee (HLAC) was formed to provide advice on the Ayush Grid project, chaired by Secretary Ayush and co-chaired by Secretary MeitY. A working group was also formed under the chairmanship of J. Satyanarayana (Former Secretary MeitY& Chairman UIDAI) with other experts from NITI Aayog, NHA, MeitY, and others to provide expert inputs on the right architecture, identifying core building blocks, leveraging development under ABDM, understanding the requirement of building a public-private ecosystem, and other technical and strategic issues for the Ayush Grid project. This aided the Ministry in shaping the technical structure of the project.