The Government has also proposed some new initiatives which include establishment of 30 new AYUSH Centres, and integrated AYUSH hospital at Hervan, holding of AROGYA, he said dedicating the 50-bed Unani hospital to people here.
The state-of-the-art double storey building has been constructed at Shalteng on Srinagar-Baramulla road over an area of 20,000 sft with an estimated cost of Rs 7.65 crore by the Roads and Building department.
The hospital, which will house several sections, indoor wards, OPD block, laboratory, auditorium and doctors' examination rooms, will serve as a full-fledged Unani hospital - the first of its kind in the state.
"During the coming years, the AYUSH sector will flourish on the lines of other parts of the country," Sharma said.
He said Central Government has already sanctioned one Unani College for Srinagar and one Ayurvedic College for Jammu and work on these projects is apace.
Keeping in view the rich potential of medicinal plants in the state, the Government has established a full-fledged Medicinal Plant Board and Rs 16 crore have been kept at the disposal of the Board to explore the herbal potential, he said.
The minister said that the Board has already decided to set up a high-tech herbal nursery in the Botanical Garden in the vicinity of Dal Lake for the facilities of the intending beneficiaries who want to start the herbal related ventures.