President calls for blending tradition with science in Ayurveda

President Droupadi Murmu on Wednesday (July 15, 2026) inaugurated Saushrutam 2026, a three-day international seminar on Ayurvedic surgery, at the All India Institute of Ayurveda (AIIA), organised on Sushruta Jayanti and attended by surgeons, researchers, and policymakers from India and abroad.

During the event, the President also inaugurated an AI-enabled 3 Tesla High-Field MRI facility at AIIA and released a National Commission for Indian System of Medicine (NCISM) study on the professional careers of women Ayurveda graduates.

Addressing the gathering, Ms. Murmu said Acharya Sushruta’s contributions had laid the foundation for scientific surgical practice, and called for preserving biodiversity and ensuring the availability of medicinal plants to sustain Ayurveda’s growth. She urged greater participation of women in the Ayurveda workforce, calling for efforts to address the challenges they face in building long-term careers, and said integrating traditional knowledge with modern diagnostics and research was expanding the system’s global credibility.