In Dubious Battle: Ramdev versus the Indian Medical Association Sanjay Nagral 25 Jun 202 https://www.theindiaforum.in/article/dubious-battle-ramdev-versus-indian-medical-association
The distinction between the low-key affordable medicines offered by neighbourhood traditional practitioners and the humungous business empire built by Ramdev that thrives on a combination of fantastic claims, powerful marketing and proximity to power is not easy to discern for well-wishers of traditional medicine. There is a method in Ramdev’s madness and going by the huge growth of his empire it has worked for him. He is also assured of state patronage with two senior cabinet ministers, including the health minister, attending the launch of so-called research on the 'wonder drug' Coronil, which claims highly effective protection against Covid-19.
The popularity of Ayurveda and other traditional systems of medicine is partly a result of their strong historical roots. They also appeal to people as an alternative to the excesses, costs and inaccessibility of modern medicine (often called ‘allopathy’, a term that was first popularised by Samuel Hanemann, the 18th century inventor of homeopathy).
There are a variety of practitioners in India owing allegiance to Ayurveda. There is the traditional healer who dispenses home remedies or low-cost herbal preparations based on hereditary knowledge. Then there are the large number of formally trained Ayurveda graduates. Many of them enrolled for an Ayurveda degree not necessarily out of a love for Ayurveda but as a second-best option to the MBBS degree, an option that still gives them upward mobility, social status and even value in the marriage market. Most of them end up practicing modern medicine.
The interests of the IMA leadership have changed over the years. This has paralleled the rise of private medicine and medical education in India. Many doctors in India are entrepreneurs and have direct investments in their clinical practice. The IMA leadership has been slowly transformed to reflect these interests. The strongest activity of the IMA in recent years has been its role in strengthening the narrative that the modern medical professionals’ interests are under threat and hence need to be defended .
The tussle between the rationalism of science and obscurantism is complex and nuanced. The terrain that matters is not TV studio debates, but early education and day to day activities. Science needs the inculcation of a faith in the scientific process amongst large sections of people, which is very different from obtaining science degrees or posturing. Currently even modern medical education and practice in India is hugely deficient on this front. In India, attempts to promote a rationalist mindset by taking on self-styled godmen and exposing fakery can even be dangerous as we saw in the murder of Dr Narendra Dabholkar.