49 Ayurvedic colleges can’t take students

As the admission process for the first year of Bachelor of Ayurvedic Medicine & Surgery (BAMS) starts this week, 49 Ayurvedic colleges in the state have been kept out of its ambit after the department of Ayurveda, Yoga & Naturopathy, Unani, Siddha and Homeopathy (AYUSH), a central governing body, barred admission into these colleges due to their poor infrastructure and faculty.

The government’s own Poddar College in Worli is among these colleges.

According to a top official of the Directorate of Medical Education and Research (DMER), the admission authority for all health science courses, until AYUSH is satisfied with the compliance of the colleges to established norms, none of them will be allowed in the admission process.