All India Unani Tibbi Congress seeks immediate launch of Bareilly Medical College Hospital
NEW DELHI — Alleging growing discrimination and institutional neglect of Unani medicine in several BJP-ruled states and at the Centre, the All India Unani Tibbi Congress, a pan-India body of practitioners and academics, has urged the Uttar Pradesh government to immediately operationalise the long-delayed OPD and IPD services at the Government Unani Medical College and Hospital in Bareilly.
In a strongly worded letter to Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, the organisation’s Secretary General, Dr Syed Ahmad Khan, said the continued delay in launching the hospital reflected the broader marginalisation of the Unani system despite repeated government claims of promoting traditional Indian systems of medicine.
Speaking to Clarion India, Dr Khan underlined that the Bareilly institution — the first Government Unani Medical College and Hospital established in Uttar Pradesh after Independence — had been constructed long ago, yet patients and students were still waiting for hospital services and academic activities to begin.
“The infrastructure is ready, but the hospital has not been made functional. This unexplained delay is jeopardising the future of Unani education and healthcare in the state,” he said.
He noted that the launch of outpatient department (OPD) services is mandatory for recognition by the National Commission for Indian System of Medicine (NCISM), without which admissions to the Bachelor of Unani Medicine and Surgery (BUMS) course could face further delays this year.
The organisation warned that aspiring Unani students were becoming the biggest victims of administrative apathy and policy neglect.
Dr Khan said that although the Directorate of Unani Services in Lucknow had initiated the process for staff recruitment, the government had yet to ensure the hospital’s operational rollout. He urged the state administration to expedite the process so that OPD and IPD facilities could begin functioning without further delay.
The letter also noted that the college came into existence after nearly a decade-long struggle by Unani practitioners, community organisations, and healthcare activists. The institution was constructed by the Public Works Department with financial assistance from the Union Ministry of Minority Affairs.
Observers in the Unani sector say that despite official rhetoric about promoting AYUSH systems — with a separate ministry carved out of the Health and Family Welfare Ministry — Unani institutions, historically associated with India’s Muslim heritage, have increasingly faced neglect in funding, appointments, infrastructure, and expansion under BJP governments. There is also a growing perception that Ayurveda and Yoga are being promoted at the cost of other traditional systems.
The Tibbi Congress said the Bareilly project had raised hopes among practitioners and students across North India, but the prolonged delay in making the hospital functional was creating frustration and uncertainty within the Unani medical fraternity.
Expressing hope for urgent intervention, Dr Khan appealed to the Uttar Pradesh government to act “in the larger public interest” and ensure that the hospital and teaching facilities become operational at the earliest.
