Academic chair on ayuverda in UTAR

UNIVERSITI

Tunku Abdul Rahman (UTAR) and the Central Council for Research in Ayurvedic Sciences (CCRAS) of the Republic of India officially signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) at UTAR Sungai Long Campus recently.

The MoU was initiated after UTAR Chancellor Tun Dr Ling Liong Sik’s visit to Jaipur and Rajasthan in India last year.

Ling said the MoU is a significant step in helping the university to train quality medical professionals and the establishment of its hospital.

“UTAR has embarked on the journey of setting up a hospital in Kampar, offering both contemporary medicine and traditional and complementary medicine (T&CM).

“It is unique that we are looking at a more holistic aspect by including western medicine, traditional Chinese medicine and Ayurveda.”

UTAR president Datuk Dr Chuah Hean Teik said: “During the visit (by the chancellor), the National Institute of Ayurveda and UTAR signed an MoU, and discussed the potential of having collaborations, particularly in medical and health sciences education. Today’s MoU for the chair in ayurveda is an extension of the collaboration with the aim to train quality medical professionals.”

Present were the Deputy High Commissioner of India Nikhilesh Chandra Giri and the First Secretary (Commerce and Information) to the High Commission of India Bramha Kumar.

Nikhilesh said: “I believe this is just the beginning of our meaningful collaboration with efforts from the High Commission of India in Malaysia, CCRAS and UTAR. I look forward to more fruitful collaborations with UTAR for mutual benefits and hope to visit the UTAR Kampar Campus soon.”

Through the MoU, an Academic Chair in Ayurveda will be set up in UTAR. Both CCRAS and UTAR will work closely to strengthen and further develop collaborations to raise awareness and quality of Ayurvedic education while broadening the learning experiences of students in Ayurvedic Science.

Some roles of the Chair are to conduct academic and research activities in Ayurveda, provide guidelines on matters related to Ayurveda, design academic standards with reference to the need of UTAR and educational guidelines of Ayurveda in India, and act as a credible source of Ayurveda, Yoga & Naturopathy, Unani, Siddha and Homoeopathy (AYUSH) related information.