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Pharmacopoeia Commission for Indian Medicine & Homoeopathy (PCIM&H) today organised a one-day Awareness Programme on “Pharmacopoeial Parameters of ASU&H” under the Regional Raw Drug Repository (RRDR) – Gangetic Plain Region project, funded by the National Medicinal Plants Board (NMPB), Ministry of Ayush.
In his welcome address, Dr. Raman Mohan Singh, Director, PCIM&H, briefed participants on the various activities and recent initiatives undertaken by the Commission in the field of standardization and quality control of Ayurveda, Siddha, Unani and Homoeopathy (ASU&H) drugs.
Addressing the gathering, Prof. (Dr.) Mahesh Kumar Dadhich, Chief Executive Officer, NMPB, highlighted the critical role of raw drug quality in ensuring the safety and efficacy of ASU&H systems. He appreciated the progress made by PCIM&H in developing the RRDR and informed that NMPB, in collaboration with the National Physical Laboratory, is developing the Bhartiya Nirdeshak Dravya for ASU&H drugs. He also commended PCIM&H for establishing thematic medicinal plant gardens with QR-code enabled databases.
Dr. Rajendra Singh, Former Associate Director, DRDR, underlined the growing global acceptance of ASU&H medicines and acknowledged the pivotal role of PCIM&H in establishing pharmacopoeial and formulary standards.
Dr. A. Jayanty, Principal Scientific Officer (Pharmacognosy), PCIM&H, presented an overview of the activities under the Gangetic Plain RRDR project. She informed that PCIM&H is currently maintaining 523 authentic raw drug samples and nearly 1,000 herbarium specimens representing 218 species of ASU&H drugs in its repository.
Around 60 participants attended the programme, representing institutions such as Jamia Hamdard University, Delhi; Raj Kumar Goel Institute of Technology, Ghaziabad; GS Ayurveda College, Ghaziabad; All India Institute of Ayurveda (AIIA), New Delhi; Sanskar College of Pharmacy, Ghaziabad; Bakson Homoeopathic Medical College, Greater Noida; IMS Ghaziabad, among others.
The technical sessions included expert lectures on “Taxonomical Identification of Medicinal Plants” by Dr. Mukesh Kumar, Consultant, RRDR Project; “Identification of Raw Drugs by Pharmacognostic Parameters” by Dr. A. Jayanty, PSO, PCIM&H; “Quality Control and Quality Assessment of Traditional Medicines” by Dr. S.C. Verma, PSO, PCIM&H; and “Microbial Analysis of ASU&H Drugs” by Dr. M. Ramesh, SO (Microbiology).
Following the technical sessions, participants underwent hands-on training in the Pharmacognosy, Chemistry and Microbiology laboratories and were given demonstrations of key instruments used in the standardization and quality control of ASU&H drugs. Exposure visits to the Herbal Gardens, Regional Raw Drug Repository and the Seed Bank were also organised.
