Till about two months ago, not many knew about the existence of a state-of-the-art homeopathic treatment centre in the capital. That is because the Central Research Institute for Homoeopathy (CRIH), which was built in Noida’s Sector 24 in 2007, was never formally inaugurated. All the facility received was a trickle of patients from the vicinity, and a single doctor to attend to 10-15 OPD patients sauntering in everyday. After an upgrade and a facelift, the institute was finally inaugurated in October as Dr D P Rastogi Central Research Institute for Homoeopathy by AYUSH Minister Shripad Naik. “Now, the institute has good facilities such as x-ray, ultrasound, blood tests, ophthalmology and physiotherapy,” said Naik. The institute now has a 35-bed IPD and more than 20 qualified doctors to cater to nearly 600 OPD patients a day. To draw people towards homoeopathy, treatment at the hospital has been made completely free — right from registration to consultation and medicines. “The problem with homoeopathy in India is that people are treated on the basis of symptoms. But here, since diagnostics are also available, the treatment is bound to be more accurate,” said Dr B S Arya, the office in-charge at the institute. “The institute has also adopted five villages in Noida. A van is sent every week to distribute free medicines to people and to raise awareness about homoeopathy being complementary, if not an alternative, to allopathic medicine. An annual budget of close to Rs 10 crore has been earmarked for providing free healthcare to people,” said Dr R K Manchanda, director-general, Central Council of Research in Homoeopathy. Dinesh Kumar, whose nine-year-old granddaughter suffers from acute respiratory distress, said, “I live in Sector 25. I have been coming here for five years. Back then, this place was deserted and unkempt. Not many people would come here; it was just my faith in homeopathy that brought me here. The treatment has helped the child to a great extent, even though we still have to rush her to the nearby hospital during an emergency.”
