HT Bureau
GUWAHATI, Dec 21: Union Minister Sarbananda Sonowal on Thursday opined that tourism in Assam set to boom with the healing touch of Ayurveda and Yoga in the pristine lap of tea gardens.
He said this while addressing a gathering after a historic Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was signed between All India Institute of Ayurveda (AIIA), India’s leading institution in Ayurveda, and the Andrew Yule Group, a government of India enterprise.
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The MoU is aimed at undertaking research in the tea estates of AYCL and discover its various health benefits of tea including exploring possibilities for possible applications in the Ayurvedic line of medication and treatments.
”Tea gardens have a mesmerising effect by rejuvenating the health and mind of any individual. With this collaboration, we are unrolling a possibility of a booming tourism industry in Assam with the healing touch of Ayurveda and Yoga in the pristine lap of tea gardens,” Sonowal added.
The Union minister further said that the vision of Prime Minister Narendra Modi is to energise the possibilities of Assam and enable the growth engine of India towards becoming an Atmanirbhar nation by 2047.
“Tea, with its numerous commercial viability and soothing effect, is set to draw strength from Ayurveda, our rich heritage, and provide a platform for Assam towards becoming a new destination of healing tourism in the South East Asian region,” he stated.
Sonowal said that traditionally, tea has many proven health benefits which must be studied scientifically and this agreement signed today is an attempt to scientifically catalogue the various health benefits of tea as well as explore possibilities of Tea’s application in providing Ayurvedic medicine.
”Under the visionary leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the government has been empowering the traditional knowledge of medicine like Ayurveda with a scientific validation, through modern research and development approach. This has enabled our rich heritage of Ayurveda and other traditional forms of medicine to provide solutions for a wider range of ailments, and allowing people to enrich their quality of lives,” he avowed.
He further said that from the days of the yore, the tea has been consumed by the indigenous population of Assam, both for its taste as well as healing touch, adding, “For long, this rich bounty of nature in Assam has remained merely as a cash crop. Decades have gone by but no sincere attempt was ever made to realise the rich herbal and healing power of tea”.
”As India reinvents itself under the inspiring leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, tea, one of the mainstays of Assam, is set to unlock its potential as a natural ingredient towards Ayurvedic formulations which are aimed at enriching the quality of lives of the people,” Sonowal said.
Notably, as per the agreement, the expert team from AIIA tea samples from various tea estates of AYCL which will be collected for undertaking necessary lab research. Further to this, the AIIA will perform detailed analysis of various teas as provided by AYCL from the perspectives of Ayurveda and its benefits on human health. AIIA to carry out experiments on Tea for its health and Ayurvedic importance and usage in Ayurvedic medicines, cosmetics, etc.
It is to be noted that AYCL has seven tea estates in Assam, including one in Khowang, flagship garden of the company, in Dibrugarh district; Hoolungooree tea estate in Jorhat district; Tingkhong tea estate in Dibrugarh district, Basmatia tea estate in Dibrugarh, Rajgarh tea estate in Dibrugarh district, Desam tea estate in Dibrugarh district and Murphulani tea estate in Golaghat district.
Both AIIA and AYCL agreed to work on examining the health benefits of tea and its importance for humans from an Ayurvedic perspective. AIIA may provide technical recommendations to change compositions and processes to enhance health benefits and utility.
