Expanding Scope or Overstepping Boundaries? Ayurveda Practitioners and Surgery

The Andhra Pradesh government’s decision to allow Ayurveda practitioners to carry out certain surgical procedures has rekindled a long-standing discussion at the intersection of policy, medicine, and patient safety. While the step is projected as a move toward addressing healthcare workforce scarcity, it has drawn brawny opposition from the allopathic medical community.
Doctors hold that surgery is not merely a technical deftness, but a discipline built on years of meticulous training, clinical exposure, and emergency management. Permitting practitioners trained in ancient medicine systems to execute surgeries, they warn, risks weaken established medical standards and could compromise patient security. Surgical competence, critics old, cannot be conferred via short-term modules or policy notifications.
Proponents of the decision highlight the requirement to widen healthcare access, particularly in rural and underserved regions. However, critics counter that access should not come at the cost of security, morality, or responsibility. They stress that strengthening infrastructure, incentivizing specialist postings, and upgrade referral systems are secure solutions than blurring professional boundaries.
At its centre, the controversy highlights a critical question: does widening scope really strengthen healthcare, or does it create a dangerous overlap without sufficient safeguards? As medical bodies demand reconsideration, the result of this debate may set a precedent not just for Andhra Pradesh, but for the future of medical practice across India.