A village in north Gujarat has opened a covid isolation centre to treat patients based on ayurvedic medicines made of cow urine, dung, milk, ghee and curd called "Panchagavya" along with allopathic facilities.
The centre is being run in a sprawling gaushala or cowshed that has over 5,000 cows by a trust 'Rajaram Gaushala Ashram' at Tetoda village in Deesa taluka of Banaskantha district. The centre "Vedalakshana Panchagavya Ayurvedic Covid Isolation Centre" was inaugurated on Thursday and on Saturday alone over 30 people with covid-19 symptoms came to the centre.
"We have got permission for 100 beds. We have two MBBS doctors and four nurses besides Ayurveda practitioners to take care of patients. For patients who have complications, we have doctors who will attend to them. We have ayurvedic medicines which is a panacea for covid-19. Promoting Ayurveda is our main purpose. We are providing Vedalakshana Panchagavya Ayurvedic treatment which is made of five elements of cow- urine, dung, milk, ghee and curd," said Ram Ratan Das, trustee of the ashram.
The district authority permitted the ashram on May 6 to start a 100-bed covid care centre.
District collector Anand Patel told DH: "This is an isolation centre. Fifty beds are for patients who want to opt for ayurvedic treatment while the rest is for allopathy which the gaushala trust has arranged on their own. We gave permission to the trust because of its image in the locality. It is quite in the locality for its work on protecting cows. We have been trying to encourage people in rural areas to isolate themselves in case of any symptoms. To create infrastructure for their quarantine, we have created over 6,000 isolation beds across the villages in the district. This Ashram is also part of it. They do provide Vedalakshana Panchagavya Ayurvedic treatment but it's optional."
The gaushala is associated with Rajasthan-based Pathmeda Godham, said to be the largest cow shelter home, and is quite popular among the locals.