Amid Baba Ramdev-IMA row, Haryana to give 1 lakh Patanjali Coronil kits to COVID patients

Amid the ongoing row over Baba Ramdev's controversial war against allopathy, Health Minister of Haryana Anil Vij on Monday announced that over one lakh Coronil kits of Patanjali Ayurved will be distributed among coronavirus patients in the state and that too, free of cost. The expenses for the kit, which contains Coronil tablets, Swasari Vati and Anu Taila, as per Vij, are partly being borne by the Haryana government's 'COVID Relief Fund'.

Patanjali's Coronil Kit comprises Coronil, Divya Swasari Vati and Divya Anu Taila. As per Patanjali, while Coronil acts as a COVID-19 immunity booster, Divya Swasari Vati helps treat symptoms like a common cold, cough. The Divya Anu Taila, on the other hand, has a soothing and relaxing effect and relieves various ailments in the head, neck, shoulders among others. Its launch was highly controversial and drew flak for the presence of the Health Minister and Union Minister Gadkari despite not having gone through any of the processes that are required of anti-COVID treatments and vaccines.

Baba Ramdev vs IMA 

A video went viral on social media on Saturday,  in which Baba Ramdev is allegedly heard saying 'allopathy ek aisi stupid aur dilwaliya science hai' ('Allopathy is a stupid & ... science'). In a press release, IMA claimed that Baba Ramdev had called doctors 'murderers' in front of the Health Minister in the pretext of the 'release of his wonder drugs' and accused the yoga guru of misleading the public by making baseless accusations to sell his 'unapproved & illegal drugs'. Hours after the Indian Medical Association (IMA) sought action against yoga guru Baba Ramdev for his remark on allopathy, Patanjali Yogipeeth and its MD Acharya Balkrishna issued a statement claiming that the 'truncated' video being referenced was totally out of context. Issuing a statement on Saturday, Baba Ramdev's Patanjali claimed that the yoga guru was reading out a WhatsApp forward message received by him & others participating in the private event.

Things, however, did not stop there and he was sent a strong-worded letter by Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan, condemning his actions. In the 2-page letter to Baba Ramdev on Sunday, Harsh Vardhan had written, "Your comment on allopathic medication and doctors has hurt the people of the country. With your remark, you haven't just disrespected COVID warriors but also deeply hurt the sentiments of people. The clarification issued by you yesterday is not sufficient. When several allopathy doctors have saved crores of lives during the COVID pandemic, for you to see that lakhs have died due to allopathic medication is extremely unfortunate. We should not forget that the battle against the pandemic can only be won if we all come together." 

This did not go unnoticed by Baba Ramdev, who later in the day responded to his letter. Right at the beginning of the letter addressed to Harsh Vardhan, the yog guru highlighted that he or his institution is not against allopathy. "In saving lives of people with normal treatment as well as surgery, we believe that allopathy has developed over the years, and provided service to mankind," he said while reiterating the statement earlier released by his foundation, as per which, the quote he was reading in the viral video was not his words but the words comprising a forwarded WhatsApp message. He added, "Still if someone's feeling has been hurt because of that, I regret it."

He was lauded by Harsh Vardhan for taking back his comment on Monday, but by evening, Baba Ramdev in a fresh attack, fired 25 questions at the IMA and made clear that he is not ready to back off so soon.

(Credit-ANI/@Patanjaliphase10. Health/beauty/Facebook)