Lack of facilities for higher studies forces Siddha graduates in Kerala to opt for non-medical courses

Peethaambaran Kunnathoor, Chennai
Friday, May 20, 2016, 08:00 Hrs  [IST] 

Lack of facilities for higher studies for Siddha graduates in Kerala is  forcing the students who have completed the course, BSMS, to opt for non-medical courses and find placement in areas other than medical for their livelihood.

Many of the graduates in Siddha are now doing MBA, LLB and other industry related diploma courses, and getting into industrial jobs/business activities, says Dr. Arun Baby, president of All Kerala Siddha Doctors Forum (AKSDF).

“A large number of BSMS graduates are now engaged in various business activities. Some others are doing UG/PG programmes in non-medical subjects like MBA, LLB or Diploma courses on technical side. They do not want to practice the system here. No support is getting them from the government side or from any private sector,” he added.

According to AKSDF, the major hurdle for their higher study, MD Siddha, is absence of an institution, either in the public sector or private sector. The only one college conducting Siddha degree course is the Santhigiri Siddha Medical College at the state capital. It has no PG programme.

Although the Siddha graduates want to take admission in the government institutions in Tamil Nadu, the hub of Siddha, language becomes a stumbling block. The syllabus and the medium of instruction are in Tamil language. Besides, for getting admission there, the Kerala graduate has to register his/her degree with the Tamil Nadu medical council. It is a difficult process and after wards, the difficulty will become severe when he/she wants to come back to the home state. Two government colleges and a few private institutions conduct PG programme in Siddha there.

Dr. Arun said as per the latest information, the number of Siddha graduates in Kerala is over 600, but none of them is doing PG programme in the subject. Only those who did their UG course in Tamil Nadu, they might be doing their PG in the colleges there. But, number of such students is very less. Job opportunity for Siddha doctors in Kerala is a major problem.

While pointing out the issues faced by the BSMS graduates in Kerala today, the president of AKSDF said very few Siddha graduates are working on clinical side as the chances for them are less. Unless the government encourages by providing job opportunities, they cannot establish as a medical practitioner under the Ayush systems in Kerala. Government should take up programmes and projects for setting up more Siddha hospitals, dispensaries, drug manufacturing units and subsequently to appoint the Siddha graduates as medical officers, drug inspectors and in other capacities the health department requires.

The state has only one government siddha hospital which is located at Vallakkadavu in Thiruvananthapuram. In addition to that, there are eight dispensaries.

For Ayurveda system, Kerala has 127 hospitals, 815 dispensaries, 20 sub-centres and three medical colleges under government, 14 medical colleges under private sector and two self-financing medical colleges.

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