Modi slams Congress for ignoring Indian heritage

New Delhi, Oct 17 (IANS) Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday made a veiled attack on the Congress for turning its back on Indian heritage after Independence and warned that "nations that forget their heritage lose their identity".

Inaugurating the first ever All India Institute of Ayurveda (AIIA) here, Modi asserted that nations cannot progress unless they value and cherish their history and heritage.

"Those nations who leave their heritage behind are destined to lose their identity," he added.

The Prime Minister said that when India was not independent, its knowledge and traditions such as yoga and ayurveda were belittled and attempts were even made to reduce the faith that Indians had in them.

"But when we became independent, there was hope that changes would be made according to the time and the heritage that we were left with would be protected. But that did not become a priority," Modi said.

He added that while attempts were made before Independence "to crush our strengths", afterwards "there was a long period when there were attempts to forget those strengths".

Because of this, India lost to other nations patents of many things that existed here for centuries, Modi added.

"But in the last three years, the situation has been reversed to a large extent," Modi said. "Our heritage, which is superior, is being established in the minds of the people."

During the event, the Prime Minister dedicated the All India Institute of Ayurveda -- set up on the lines of the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) -- to the nation.

He said his government was focusing on integrating the public healthcare system with ayurveda and yoga.

"Ayurveda is not just a method of treatment. It encompasses social health, public health and environmental health," Modi said while inaugurating the institute.

"Understanding this need, our government is stressing on integrating the public healthcare system with yoga, ayurveda and other AYUSH methods."

It is critical for ayurveda's expansion that there is a hospital linked with it in every district which offers quality healthcare services, the Prime Minister said.

"The AYUSH Ministry is swiftly working in that direction and in just three years, over 65 AYUSH hospitals have been set up," he added.

The Prime Minister said the government was focused on providing affordable healthcare to the poor. He said stress has been laid on preventive healthcare and improving affordability and access to treatment.

The Prime Minister said that new AIIMS were being established to help the people get better access to healthcare.