Manpower crisis ails ayurveda industry

KOCHI: Ayurveda industry is facing a problem of not getting qualified and trained personnel to support its expanding business operations.

The manpower crisis unfolding in the industry was better highlighted by Chief Minister V S Achuthanandan himself when he inaugurated the three-day Global Ayurveda Summit.

Stating that his government was looking into manpower shortage, Achuthanandan said India needed 20,000 trained therapists while the mushrooming ayurvedic spas in the US, Germany, Russia, Singapore, Malaysia and West Asian countries would demand trained hands to the tune of several lakhs.‘ For the next few years, the industry’s annual requirement of trained therapists would exceed 20,000 personnel. But, the problem is that we do not get quality hands. There is a huge gap between the demand and supply,” says CII convenor of health and tourism panel and managing director of Dhathri Ayurveda Pvt Ltd Dr S Sajikumar.

In fact, Dhathri is using the summit as a platform to recruit 2,000 hands to meet its immediate expansion plans. The company, which would soon extend its innovative Ayurveda Beauty and Slimming (ABS) Clinic to the rest of India and Middle East, is scouting for 160 ayurvedic physicians, 60 pharmacists, 1200 female and male therapists, 100 beauticians, 300 dieticians, 100 physiotherapists, 100 managers, 100 sales representatives and 60 support staff.

The increased manpower requirement by the industry is not without justification.

According to CII Kerala State Council chairman Sanjaya Mariwala, the Indian herbal market is registering significant growth. “It has the potential to reach Rs 14,500 crore by 2012 and exports to Rs 9,000 crore,” he says.

Globally, the traditional medicine is a trillion-dollar economy. Over Rs 3,600-crore worth herbal raw materials and medicines are exported from the country. According to Sajikumar, one reason for the shortage of trained therapists is lack of approved ayurveda courses.