The Nellore district administration has suspended the distribution of ayurvedic medicine by a practitioner B. Anandaiah at Krishnapatnam village, pending a decision by the Ayush Department on the efficacy of the traditional system of medicine.
Collector K.V.N. Chakradhar Babu said the distribution of herbal preparations would not be allowed as it is in violation of the COVID safety norms, even as preliminary findings by a seven-member district-level committee comprising AYUSH doctors and officials found nothing harmful in the preparations.
“Further action will be taken by the Ayush Commissioner based upon the report of the AYUSH laboratory in Hyderabad to which the samples of the herbal preparations have been sent,” he said.
Meanwhile, YSR Congress Party MLA from Sarvepalli Kakani Govardhan Reddy said that distribution of the herbal preparations, if provided free of cost, should be allowed as it was not a patented drug after taking necessary precautions to ensure COVID-appropriate behaviour by those thronging the village for relief.
He suggested to the organisers to provide separate enclosures for serious and asymptomatic cases and those seeking it for its immunity boosting properties. The authorities should note that the alternative system of medicine had evolved over centuries, he added.
Meanwhile, Mr. Anandaiah made the necessary arrangements for resuming the distribution of the herbal medicines in compliance with the COVID protocols as and when the authorities cleared the decks for it.
