Policy Update
Ravirala Lahari
Background
The healthcare ecosystem in India has long been characterized by a dual reliance on modern allopathic medicine and traditional Indian systems of medicine, collectively known as AYUSH (Ayurveda, Yoga & Naturopathy, Unani, Siddha, Sowa-Rigpa, and Homoeopathy). While mainstream healthcare rapidly digitized using global electronic health standards, the AYUSH sector remained highly fragmented, relying on paper-based records, isolated institutional repositories, and uncoordinated supply chains.
To bridge this divide, the Ministry of Ayush introduced the Ayush Grid in 2018 as a dedicated IT backbone to systematically transform and elevate the traditional medicine sector. Existing national digital health platforms were fundamentally built for Western medical frameworks and could not accommodate the unique clinical concepts, diagnostic terminologies, or herbal formulations native to AYUSH practices. By launching the grid, the government aimed to establish scientific credibility through a centralized research database, eradicate supply chain inefficiencies for medicinal plants, and develop custom electronic health standards. This structural shift was inevitable to prevent traditional medicine from being sidelined, ultimately allowing it to integrate seamlessly into mainstream national platforms like the Ayushman Bharat Digital Mission (ABDM)(Ram, 2023).
Functioning
To ensure smooth digital governance and compliance with national guidelines, such as the India Enterprise Architecture (IndEA 2.0) and the National Digital Health Blueprint (NDHB).
Four-Layer Digital Architecture
- Ayush Core Layer (The Foundation):This layer acts as the centralized data registry and lookup engine. It stores Ayush Morbidity Codes (standardized disease classification), Ayush Drug Codes (standardized formulation definitions), and unified healthcare directories. It directly connects the traditional system to external national ecosystems like the Ayushman Bharat Digital Mission (ABDM).
- Ayush National Layer (The Application Hub): Houses the central software applications, data processing frameworks, and cloud-hosted systems developed by the Ministry. Develops nationwide IT applications, common reference applications, and user support/handholding for deployed systems.
- Ayush State Layer (The Execution Channel): This layer is designed to interface directly with State and Union Territory governments, as well as private stakeholders, giving them the flexibility to adopt standardized IT applications developed under the Ayush Grid or integrate their own pre-existing regional health systems.
- Ayush Citizen Access Layer (The Public Interface): The consumer-facing platform consisting of mobile apps, public tracking systems, telemedicine tools, and portal interfaces. It empowers citizens to access teleconsultations, link their health files to a national ABHA ID, and locate practitioners.
The Pillars of Functionality
The Ayush Grid platform envisages digitization of service delivery across the six functional areas – Health Services, Education, Research, Drug Administration, Medicinal Plants, and Ministry of Ayash Oversight along with capacity building and media outreach.
- Healthcare Delivery and Interoperability: Digital platforms such as the Ayush Hospital Management Information System (A-HMIS) facilitate hospital administration, electronic health records and patient management. Integration with the Ayushman Bharat Digital Mission (ABDM) promotes interoperability with the national digital healthcare ecosystem. Telemedicine services and applications such as e-Sanjeevani further facilitate remote healthcare consultations. This linkage allows patients in remote or underserved areas to consult Ayush specialists virtually, bridging traditional healing methods with modern digital infrastructure.
- Research, Standardisation and Education: The Ayush Research Portal provides access to published research and scientific literature, while the NAMASTE portal supports standardised Ayush terminologies and morbidity classification. Their alignment with international classification systems such as WHO ICD-11 facilitates the integration of traditional medical knowledge into global health information systems. Digital education and awareness platforms such as Ayush Next also support learning and professional development (PIB Delhi, December 12, 2025) .
- Emerging Technologies and Citizen Accessibility: The Ministry is incorporating Artificial Intelligence (AI), Machine Learning (ML) and multilingual technologies to improve digital service delivery. AI-enabled tools such as Yoga Saarthi and Nivesh Saarthi provide interactive assistance, while integration with BHASHINI aims to improve accessibility across Indian languages. Citizen-facing applications such as m-Yoga, Y-Break and Namaste Yoga promote preventive healthcare and wellness practices(Press Information Bureau (PIB Delhi), 2026) .
- Drug Administration and Medicinal Plant Management: Digital platforms support the regulation of Ayush medicines through licensing and administrative processes. The e-CHARAK portal facilitates information exchange and market linkages among medicinal plant cultivators, traders and industries, strengthening transparency in the medicinal plant supply chain.
Technical Interoperability and Data Exchange
Ayush Grid is designed to enable interoperability among digital platforms within the Ayush sector and with external national digital health systems. Application Programming Interfaces (APIs) facilitate communication between compatible applications, allowing information to be exchanged without requiring each system to maintain separate, disconnected databases. For example, when a patient visits an Ayush hospital using AHMIS, the patient’s digital health record can be linked to their ABHA-enabled health identity. Subject to the applicable consent and interoperability requirements, relevant health information can be shared with another compatible healthcare system.
Institutional Implementation and Monitoring
The Ministry of Ayush leads the Grid, through a formal Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between the Ministry of AYUSH and the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY). under which MeitY and its organisations provide technical inputs and support as and when feasible. Within that arrangement, The National e-Governance Division (NeGD) supported the development of digital applications and monitoring dashboards, BISAG-N contributed to GIS and technical project development, while the Centre for Development of Advanced Computing (C-DAC) was assigned a role in providing digital training to Ayush doctors (PIB Delhi, August 12, 2022).
At the institutional level, the Grid’s design rests on expert and planning inputs. Its architecture follows the High Level Advisory Committee (HLAC) report and the Detailed Project Report (DPR), and its timelines depend on the DPR and final approval of the project.
Monitoring is built into the platforms. My Ayush Integrated Services Portal (MAISP) enables real-time monitoring and data-driven decision-making, and dashboards and standardised reporting support State and district planning, MAISP serves as the “One Portal” gateway for all digital Ayush initiatives. The Anudan Portal (launched 19 May 2026) applies this to funding by tracking proposals from submission to approval online, with the stated aim of 100% transparency and accountability in grant management.
Performance
The Ayush Grid has established a robust digital framework for traditional medicine in India, deploying 24 distinct e-governance platforms that seamlessly bridge grassroots healthcare with global medical standards. A core output of this initiative is the Ayush Hospital Management Information System (AHMIS), an ABDM-compliant platform that has successfully onboarded 5,386 Ayush health facilities to create interoperable health records, a massive scale-up from the roughly 100 clinical establishments using it in October 2020. This systemic reach is reinforced by the mapping of 6,002 facilities on the PM GatiShakti platform to optimize infrastructure planning, alongside the Ayush Anudan Portal (launched 19 May 2026), which digitizes and tracks grant proposals using NGO Darpan integration to ensure absolute administrative transparency(Digital Initiatives and AYUSH Grid, n.d.).
Simultaneously, the grid has driven significant advancements in research, industry supply chains, and global scientific credibility. The AI-enabled Ayush Research Portal now hosts over 43,000 curated publications, by leveraging the Ayush Grid’s open-access NAMASTE Portal, which unified and mapped 1,941 standardized morbidity codes – India provided the rigorous, digital evidence base that successfully compelled the World Health Organization to launch the ICD-11 Traditional Medicine Module 2(Jadhav et al., 2026) (DHN Bureau, 2026). On the economic front, platforms like Ayush Nivesh Saarthi streamline investor relations, while the e-Charak marketplace leverages an embedded AI assistant to connect medicinal plant farmers directly to the industry(Ministry of Ayush, 2026) . Furthermore, the grid’s public outreach has achieved massive cultural scale, exemplified by the Yoga Sangam 2026 initiative, which saw over 7.6 lakh organizations register and upload more than 7.46 lakh to 8 lakh photographs, cementing the grid’s dual role as both an institutional backbone and a public engagement powerhouse(Press Information Bureau, 2026).
SDG Linkages and Developmental Impact
The AYUSH Grid directly advances India’s 2030 Agenda by aligning its digital infrastructure with three key Sustainable Development Goals: SDG 3 (Good Health & Well-being) by expanding access to standardized traditional primary care via A-HMIS. A Ministry of Ayush reply to the Rajya Sabha in July 2025 reported 32,415 Ayush teleconsultations through e-Sanjeevani 2.0, Data mapping reveals a significant digital health adoption in rural areas. Based on a representative audited dataset of 24,039 consultations, consisting of 22,837 rural consultations and 1,202 urban consultations,(The remaining 8,376 consultations comprise of unclassified or semi-urban regions, the initiative achieved a rural-to-urban utilization ratio of approximately 19:1(Government of India, Ministry of Ayush (2025)) . This indicates the potential of digital healthcare to extend Ayush services beyond urban centres and improve access for rural populations. It supports the objective of universal health coverage under Target 3.8(Universal Health Coverage).
Under SDG 4 (Quality Education), AYUSH Grid advances Target 4.3 (equal access to technical, vocational and higher education) and Target 4.4 (relevant skills for employment) through platforms such as e-LMS, Ayush Next and e-Medha, which facilitate digital learning, academic access, professional training and research cataloguing. Similarly, under SDG 9 (Industry, Innovation and Infrastructure), it contributes to Target 9.1 (Resilient infrastructure) by developing resilient digital health infrastructure through standardised data systems and interoperability with ABDM, while Target 9.5(Research and innovation) is supported through digital research databases, AI-assisted supply-chain management via e-CHARAK and investment facilitation through Ayush Nivesh Saarthi(Press Information Bureau Delhi, 2022).
Emerging issues
Lack of Independent Quality Audit Mechanisms: Ayush tele-consultations are governed by practitioner conduct guidelines, but there is no independent audit of how well those guidelines are followed or of consultation quality. Facility accreditation (e.g. National Accreditation Board for Hospitals & Healthcare Providers (NABH)) is voluntary and is not documented as covering digital consultations. Without standardized clinical outcome monitoring and structured patient feedback systems, rapid digital expansion risks compromising accountable healthcare delivery.
Digital Literacy & Operational Friction: A significant portion of traditional medicine practitioners, particularly in rural and semi-urban health centers, face digital literacy barriers. Transitioning from legacy paper-based workflows to mandatory cloud-based platforms like A-HMIS continues to encounter frontline resistance and operational delays.
Data Integration & Legacy Silos: Integrating private AYUSH dispensaries, standalone clinics, and small-scale pharmaceutical units into the centralized Core Layer remains slow. Many private providers operate on fragmented, non-interoperable local software, limiting real-time national data aggregation.
Ontological & Standardisation Complexities: Digitizing classical medical concepts (e.g., Prakriti, Doshas, Mizaj, Tridosha evaluation) into standardized binary computational formats without losing their holistic diagnostic nuance remains an ongoing technical challenge under the NAMASTE/ICD-11 framework.
Voluntary participation: AHMIS reach is reported only as a facility count (5,386 as of July 2026), with no split between public and private providers and no reporting against the 2020 expectation of serving 8 lakh Ayush physicians and 50 crore citizens within three years. This gap matters because the private sector runs most of the Ayush system: non-government institutions make up roughly 87% of Ayurveda and 85% of homoeopathy colleges. Without disaggregated data, it is not possible to judge how far the Grid reaches beyond government facilities(The Hindu, 2026).
Data Privacy & Compliance Standards: Managing massive volumes of sensitive personal health records across multi-layered platforms requires strict alignment with the Digital Personal Data Protection (DPDP) Act, necessitating robust consent managers and encryption standards across state boundaries.
Way forward
1. Governance and quality assurance: An independent digital health audit and certification cell should be set up under the Ministry of Ayush, working with NABH. It should issue standard tele-consultation guidelines and run twice-yearly quality and prescription-safety audits at the main tele-consultation hubs, with full compliance on government tele-health portals. Patient feedback and patient-reported outcome measures should be built into AHMIS and e-Sanjeevani. A target of 85% feedback capture, with an annual satisfaction report, would give the Grid its first outcome data.
2. Interoperability and private-sector adoption: All public Ayush hospitals should have patient records linked to ABHA IDs, and ABDM compliance should become a licensing condition for private clinics. Small practices need support to meet this: a free, lightweight, ABDM-certified AHMIS package with small onboarding subsidies.
3. Standardisation and research: NAMASTE/ICD-11 TM2 coding should be mandatory in all tertiary Ayush teaching hospitals, so diagnoses are recorded in a globally comparable form. On top of this data, an anonymised research sandbox on the Ayush Research Portal, compliant with the DPDP Act, could support five outcome studies.
4. Capacity building and last-mile adoption: C-DAC’s training should be expanded through district-level “Ayush Digital Champions” who help rural practitioners with software and troubleshooting.
References
- Ministry of Ayush. (2026, September 19). Ministry of AYUSH advances artificial intelligence for ayurveda and traditional medicine. Press Information Bureau (PIB). https://www.pib.gov.in/PressReleasePage.aspx?PRID=2312436®=3&lang=1
- Ministry of Ayush, Government of India. (2026, November 8). MAISP | my Ayush Integrated Services Portal | ayush grid | ministry of Ayush. MAISP – My Ayush Integrated Services Portal. https://maisp.ayush.gov.in/
- Press Information Bureau. (2026, June 23). Under the leadership of prime minister Shri Narendra Modi, international day of yoga 2026 emerges as a global movement with unprecedented participation. Press Information Bureau. https://www.pib.gov.in/PressReleasePage.aspx?PRID=2277016®=48&lang=2
- Press Information Bureau (PIB Delhi). (2020, October 2). Ayush grid, the emerging IT-backbone for AYUSH sector, to integrate operationally with the National Digital Health Mission. Press Information Bureau. https://www.pib.gov.in/PressReleasePage.aspx?PRID=1660936®=48&lang=2
- Press Information Bureau (PIB Delhi). (2022, August 12). MoU signed between Ministry of Ayush and Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY). Press Information Bureau. https://www.pib.gov.in/PressReleaseIframePage.aspx?PRID=1851293®=48&lang=2
- Press Information Bureau (PIB Delhi). (2025, December 12). Integration of AI into Ayush. Press Information Bureau. https://www.pib.gov.in/PressReleasePage.aspx?PRID=2209332®=48&lang=2
- Press Information Bureau (PIB Delhi). (2026, August 11). Objective of Ayush Grid. Press Information Bureau (PIB). https://www.pib.gov.in/PressReleasePage.aspx?PRID=2297709®=3&lang=1
- Press Information Bureau Delhi. (2022, December 13). Status of the ayush grid project. Press Information Bureau. https://www.pib.gov.in/PressReleaseIframePage.aspx?PRID=1883107®=48&lang=2
- Press Information Bureau, Delhi. (2026, July 24). Digital initiatives and AYUSH Grid. Press Information Bureau. https://www.pib.gov.in/PressReleasePage.aspx?PRID=2291029®=48&lang=2
- Ram, T. S. (2023). Ayush grid: Digital health platform. International Journal of Ayurveda Research, 4(2), 61. https://doi.org/10.4103/ijar.ijar_66_23
- The Hindu. (2026, September). Step up regulation: On AYUSH medical education. The Hindu. https://www.thehindu.com/opinion/editorial/step-up-regulation-on-ayush-medical-education/article71411043.ece
- Jadhav, S., Khatnani, V., Londhe, V., & Kharat, P. (2026). NAMASTE portal integration with ICD-11. International Journal on Advanced Computer Theory and Engineering, 15(2S), 110–116. https://doi.org/10.65521/ijacte.v15i2s.2980
About the Contributor
Lahari is a Public Administration and Governance postgraduate from the Central University of Karnataka, with a keen interest in Urban Governance, Public Policy, and Sustainable Development. Committed to making governance more inclusive, sustainable and having a tangible impact on citizens’ lives.
Reviewed by
Tanisha Hooda and Viksha A
Acknowledgement
I am writing to express my sincere gratitude to IMPRI (Impact and Policy Research Institute) for providing me with the opportunity to prepare this policy update article and for fostering a rigorous learning environment that connects research with public policy practice.
Disclaimer
The views and opinions expressed in this article are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views, policies, or positions of IMPRI (Impact and Policy Research Institute) or any other affiliated organisation.
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