Allied Healthcare (GAHC)

Odisha has come to a critical juncture both in terms of higher education and industrial development. On the one hand, the State has been successful in gradually broadening its technical and professional education sectors. However, it still does not have a nationally recognized institution that could serve as a cornerstone for high, level pharmaceutical education and research.

The lack of a National Institute of Pharmaceutical Education and Research (NIPER) is restricting Odishas capability to unlock the full potential of its pharmaceutical sector.

The insistence on establishing a NIPER in Odisha is neither a recent nor a trend driven idea. Since 2012, various academic circles and professional organizations, including the Odisha Pharmaceutical Industries Forum (OPIF) and the Indian Pharmaceutical Graduates Association (IPGA), have been on a continuous swing of this issue at the forefront.

The proposal was officially submitted to the Union Ministry of Chemicals and Fertilizers at the time when Mr Srikant Jena was the Minister, and the argument has been taken up at the national level.

Later, the then Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik communicated to the Centre the States willingness along with the commitment to provide institutional support and make available the required infrastructure.

Odisha’s claim rests not merely on precedent but on proven capacity. The State has a long history of supporting pharmaceutical education, starting from the 17th century, and presently is home to a large network of pharmacy institutions that together contribute a huge number of diploma, undergraduate and postgraduate graduates annually. However, the lack of a research oriented national institution like a NIPER has resulted in a continuous flow of skilled people from the State to others for advanced education and research. This persistent leakage of human capital makes local research ecosystems weaker, hampers productive industry, academia collaboration, and limits the establishment of innovation, driven pharmaceutical enterprises in Odisha.

A NIPER in Odisha would be able to fill these structural holes. It would enhance postgraduate and doctoral education, increase pharmaceutical and translational research, and help create closer industry, academic institution partnerships. Importantly, it would also help correct regional imbalances in the distribution of national research institutions. Eastern India remains under- served in pharmaceutical education and innovation despite its growing industrial and human resource base, and Odisha is well positioned to serve as a regional anchor. There have been recent events that have given extra weight to this demand that has lasted for a long time. Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan has requested the Central Government to consider the setting up of a NIPER in Odisha, referring to the states growing educational ecosystem and the importance of the state in geopolitical terms.

The decision of the Centre to allocate funds through the budget to three new NIPERs under the Biopharma SHAKTI initiative is evidence enough of the suitability of Odisha in this context, especially considering the governments declared goal of making Eastern India a significant contributor to national growth. At the level of the State government, the present administration has on several occasions emphasized the development of Odisha as a pharmaceutical and healthcare hub through policy support and research, led growth.

The State Health Minister has communicated to the Legislative Assembly that a suitable plot of land at the State capital has been proposed for the creation of a NIPER, thus indicating the readiness of the administration. The moment for deliberation has passed; what Odisha now requires is decisive action. Through continuous efforts of advocacy, evidence of preparedness, agreement between the political parties, and clear national relevance, the case for setting up a NIPER in Odisha is both compelling and thorough.

The central government must grab this chance to turn words into action by giving the green light and fast, tracking the setting up of a NIPER in the state. Besides fulfilling the promise that has been made for a long time, it will also open the eastern region of India to the pharmaceutical market potential, keep and develop the local talent, and make India stronger in healthcare and life sciences through self, reliance.

A NIPER in Odisha would be an exemplary model of inclusive development wherein the visionary policy and purposeful execution would meet. The rest is a timely and decisive action from the centre.

With readiness of the institution, political consensus, and national relevance thoroughly established, the case for a NIPER in Odisha is hard to ignore. Green, lighting and fast, tracking the establishment of such an institution would not only be a tribute to the commitments made over the years but also a way to unlock the pharmaceutical potential of eastern India, keep and develop local talent, and make India self, reliant in healthcare and life sciences. A NIPER in Odisha would be a strong symbol of inclusive development, a place where policy vision and purposeful execution meet.

The Gujarat high court on Monday ordered the Medical Counselling Committee (MCC) under the Directorate General of Health Services to reconsider the case of MBBS Swara Kiran Bhatt and give her an opportunity to be included in the merit list of eligible candidates for NEET, PG Round 3 under the NRI quota, as she failed to upload one mandatory document the NRI sponsor's passbook at the time of application.

While instructing MCC to consider Bhatt's candidature, Justice Nirzar Desai also asked her to deposit Rs 1 lakh with the HC legal services committee because a student was the one who said that she would make the donation of the money even if she finally did not get admission in PG courses.

As per the facts of the case, Bhatt completed her MBBS on an NRI seat, which was sponsored by her maternal aunt. She appeared for NEET, PG 2025 and got an All-India Rank of 1, 80, 339, and her score was way above the cut, off marks.

When she applied for the PG courses, she failed to upload the sponsor's passbook. This resulted in rejection of her candidature, and she approached the HC seeking a direction to MCC to include her name in the NRI eligible list and permit her participation in counselling.

It was submitted that though she could not upload the sponsor's passbook, a mandatory document to be supplied for eligibility in the NRI quota, she sent the document by email to the authority on Jan 30. The omission was a minor lacuna and must not cost the student her career.

MCC's counsel Ankit Shah opposed the petition, stating that the admission process substantially progressed and the counselling window was set to close on Monday noon, when the arguments took place. He maintained that non-uploading of the sponsor's passbook justified non-consideration of her candidature. After the hearing, the high court said, "It is expected that a person who already became a doctor and aspires to become a specialist would adhere to and maintain the requisite precision and be absolutely meticulous while uploading the application form. However, such a minor mistake of failing to upload a single document ought not to result in a lifetime regret for a student like the petitioner."

The HC directed the authorities "to consider the case of the petitioner in the merit list, if the petitioner is otherwise found eligible". They were ordered not to reject her claim for a PG NEET seat solely on account of the lacuna of the failure to upload the passbook of the sponsor while filling up the PG NEET application form.

Children with neurodevelopmental and neurological disorders can benefit from the integration of Ayurveda, yoga, and modern therapies, a senior official from the All India Institute of Ayurveda, Goa, said on Saturday. The institute launched in November 2025 the PRAYAS centre, a first-of-its-kind facility, which uses a combination of the three pathways to provide coordinated rehabilitation services and improve the quality of affected children's lives, the official said. Since its launch, the integrated paediatric neuro-rehabilitation centre has benefited 574 patients through the dedicated neuro-muscular and neuro-behavioural OPD, and extended integrated care to 176 children through IPD services, the institute said.

"PRAYAS is a beacon of hope for children with neurodevelopmental disorders, integrating Ayurveda's holistic principles with multidisciplinary therapies to foster remarkable improvements in their quality of life. "We are determined to take this model to more families all over India by leveraging our institute's commitment to innovative and compassionate care, "

Dr Sujata Kadam, Dean (Academic and Administration) at the All India Institute of Ayurveda (AIIA) Goa, stated.

A three, year, old boy with spastic hemiplegic cerebral palsy was treated at the PRAYAS centre. The mother of the child said, "Initially, my son couldn't even stand or walk by himself. After his treatment at PRAYAS, there has been a remarkable change and my child is now able to walk without any support."

Encouraging clinical outcomes have been observed in this case, Dr Rahul Ghuse, Assistant Professor, Department of Kaumarbhritya (Ayurved Pediatrics), AIIA Goa, said.

The institute is now looking towards tying up with special schools in the western coastal state to provide specialised services to children in community settings.

"We are looking forward to establishing memoranda of understanding (MoUs) with special schools across Goa."By joining forces, we'll be able to bring our specialized services right to the doors of the less fortunate children. This way, integrative neuro, rehabilitation can be made available to the community members who need it the most, " Dr Ghuse elaborated.

The PRAYAS at AIIA Goa, has been functioning as a multidisciplinary facility, delivering integrated, child, centred care to children with conditions such as cerebral palsy, autism spectrum disorder (ASD), attention, deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), global developmental delay and other neuromuscular and neurobehavioral disorders.

The centre incorporates Ayurveda, based treatments with physiotherapy, yoga, speech therapy, occupational therapy and modern paediatric care, thus allowing for comprehensive assessment, individualised care planning, caregiver counselling and structured follow, up, Dr Ghuse added.

PRAYAS, through a well, defined, evidence, based integrative care pathway, is aiming at achieving functional changes that can be quantified as well as an improved quality of life for children with neurodevelopmental and neurological disorders. They are also backed by standardized documentation and outcome tracking, " the institute stated.

Underscoring the next phase of strengthening and scale-up, Dr Sumeet Goel, Associate Professor and Head, Department of Kaumarbhritya (Ayurved Paediatrics), AIIA Goa, said, "Our future efforts will focus on developing standardised treatment guidelines and generating evidence to support replication of the PRAYAS model at larger public health levels, enabling wider access to integrative paediatric neuro-rehabilitation services." The move towards integrative approaches is even getting a boost from the state level.

During a recent interaction with Ayush and wellness stakeholders in Panaji, Chief Minister Pramod Sawant of Goa pointed out the increasing capability of the state in the holistic wellness area and requested a set of rules that would help integrated wellness to be more robust. He also reiterated the vision of Goa to become a global hub for wellness and medical value travel.

The National Health Policy 2017 aims at an integrative, preventive, promotive and rehabilitative healthcare system. It also emphasizes the continuity of care through strengthened service delivery, which this initiative is in line with.

Globally, such service models resonate with international frameworks that emphasise people-centred integration of safe and effective traditional medicine into health systems, including focus on clinical practice guidelines, workforce development and standardised data systems, Dr Ghuse said.

VIT Bhopal University in partnership with Johns Hopkins University (JHU), USA, is calling for registrations for Health Hack 2026: Improving Health Access for All. An international hackathon, Health Hack 2026, has a plan set for February 10, 12, 2026. The project aims at encouraging practical, tech, driven healthcare access solutions with a focus on rural and ignored areas. Health Hack 2026 launch is the direct result of the successful influence of Health Hack 2025 last February. Bringing together a diverse mix of participants, including researchers, clinicians, technologists, and students, the event effectively solved real, world healthcare problems through data, driven and AI enabled solutions.

Under the guidance of VIT Bhopal management team, including Hon'ble Chancellor Dr. G. Viswanathan, Vice President Mr. Sankar Viswanathan, Assistant Vice President Ms. Kadhambari S. Viswanathan, and Trustee Ms. Ramani Balasundaram, the program comprise keynote addresses, technical sessions, workshops, and problem, solving competitive tracks that led to a number of novel healthcare prototypes. The success stories solidified VIT Bhopal's position as a leading center for healthcare research and strong partnership between industry and academia. The 2026 edition builds on this impact made possible through collaborative research-led efforts.

After securing participation from such top, name institutions as IITs, NITs, IIITs, government medical colleges and even international universities in the last edition, Health Hack 2026 intends to extend its reach significantly by allowing data scientists, engineers, healthcare professionals, innovators and students from both India and abroad to come on board.

In teams cross, disciplinary and comprising up to six members, the participants will find the following areas as their main points of focus: telemedicine as a tool for health equity, predictive analytics as a means of preventing illness, AI, powered management of chronic diseases, accessibility of mental health services, and the health, tech sector in general.

Waiting to be more than just another hackathon, Health Hack 2026 will put heavy stress on the development of scaled, up real, world prototypes. Participants will be provided not only with high quality datasets, but also APIs and guidance through mentors coming from industry and research partners, such as Intelehealth and the Gupta, Klinsky India Institute.

Throughout the series of advanced events hosted on VIT Bhopal's over 300, acre campus, one of the most cutting, edge facilities in the country, attendees will be encouraged to come up with solutions ranging from early diagnosis of diseases, tailored medication, safe management of health records, and implementation of AI, in, ethics frameworks to a direct and conscious consideration of people living in a situation of exclusion from healthcare.

They will get the chance to work together in a hands, on interdisciplinary collaboration setting. Besides that, they can also enhance their AI and data analytics skills, deepen their knowledge of healthcare engineering, and expand their network with world experts from VIT Bhopal and JHUs Whiting School of Engineering, a school that houses the world's top ranked biomedical engineering program.

Winning teams will be rewarded with cash prizes of 1, 00, 000, 50, 000, and 25, 000 for first, second, and third places, respectively. Besides, they will be given a chance to work with mentors to take their ideas to the next level. Above all, the hackathon is a brilliant way of giving back to society by coming up with solutions that make a positive social impact.

Registration and Key Dates

Final Phase: 1012 February 2026, VIT Bhopal

For more details, visit: https://vitbhopal.ac.in/health-hackathon/; or contact This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

About VIT Bhopal University:

VIT Bhopal University, a multidisciplinary university located in Madhya Pradesh, was established in 2017 and is part of the legacy of the Vellore Institute of Technology (VIT) group of institutions. The university offers undergraduate, postgraduate, and doctoral programmes in engineering, management, sciences, and allied disciplines on a 300 acre green campus.

The campus houses a 100 percent doctoral faculty, and the university runs the CALTECH initiative, a unique technological approach to the teaching, learning process that combines industry practices, research exposure, and experiential learning. Through the STARS programme (Support the Advancement of Rural Students), VIT Bhopal is also offering completely free education, lodging and boarding to meritorious students from rural backgrounds.

Strong industry collaborations and an emphasis on outcome based education are hallmarks of the university which makes it a great place to prepare future, ready graduates for the rapidly changing world.

The Union Budget has proposed an investment of Rs 10, 000 crore in the biopharmaceutical sector of India over the next five years, which is a clear policy move to strengthen the domestic capabilities in advanced medicines and high, value pharmaceutical manufacturing. The announcement thus makes biopharma one of the key strategic pillars of India's long, term healthcare and industrial growth roadmap.

Biopharmaceuticals, also known as biologics, are very complicated medicines which are either extracted or derived from living organisms, cells, or tissues, and that have not been chemically synthesized in the traditional way, by a chemist. The list of such medicines covers vaccines, monoclonal antibodies, gene therapies, and cancer, autoimmune disorders, and rare diseases treatments with advanced biologics. At the global level, biologics are one of the fastest growing segments in the pharmaceutical market and thus the $10 billion investment of India is meant to bridge the gap in research, manufacturing and innovation amongst others.

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman indicated that the biopharma plan would be a part of the wider set of interventions covering six major focus areas, such as manufacturing, strategic and frontier sectors, healthcare, and advanced technology. The grant is aimed at facilitating the development of infrastructure, technology upgrades, and innovation ecosystems, thus enabling Indian enterprises to shift from the production of generic drugs to complex biologics.

Alongside this, the budget equally emphasised the government's semiconductor self reliance drive. Sitharaman declared that Semiconductor Mission 2.0 "will give priority to the production of equipment and materials based on full, stack Indian intellectual property". India Semiconductor Mission (ISM) is an autonomous non profit unit under the Digital India Corporation operating in the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY). Its mandate is to enable the establishment of a semiconductor and display manufacturing ecosystem in India. The decision to keep integrating biopharma and semiconductor initiatives further demonstrates the ambition to strengthen the deep, tech, and manufacturing base of India.

Meanwhile, the finance minister also announced that the governments of resource rich states like Odisha, Kerala, Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu will be facilitated to establish critical mineral infrastructure. These minerals are going to be required in various sectors such as pharmaceuticals, electronic, renewable energy, and advanced manufacturing which the government is focusing on for a resilient supply chain development.

Reiterating the government’s development philosophy, Sitharaman said the initiatives align with the principle of “Sabka Saath, Sabka Vikas,” which she described as the government’s third Kartavya. Experts believe that if effectively implemented, the biopharma investment could boost innovation, generate skilled employment, and strengthen India’s position as a global healthcare and life sciences hub.

A group of bioengineers from the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Bombay have invented new intelligent systems, BrainProt and DrugProtAI, that integrate the information of scattered brain diseases to assist researchers in locating markers, analyzing treatments, and finding druggable targets. BrainProt v3.0 is a database that collects different types of biological information, from genes to proteins, and merges them in a single platform to allow getting insights into human brain activity in both the normal and pathological situations. The system is the first to combine the data of multiple diseases from genomics, transcriptomics, proteomics, and biomarker research, as well as multi, database information into a single portal.

“BrainProt also includes resources to identify and understand protein expression differences between the left and right hemispheres of the human brain across 20 neuroanatomical regions. This is the first resource of its kind,” said Prof. Sanjeeva Srivastava from the Department of Biosciences and Bioengineering, IIT Bombay.

BrainProt includes data on 56 human brain diseases and 52 multi-omics datasets derived from more than 1,800 patient samples. These datasets include transcriptomic data for 11 diseases and proteomic data for six diseases.

For each disease, users can examine genes and proteins frequently associated with the disease, assess how strongly these genes and proteins are already supported by existing medical and scientific databases, and how their activity levels change in patient samples.

DrugProtAI was developed to understand whether a protein can be druggable (has the biological and physical characteristics needed to be a useful drug target) before doing costly experiments.

This is crucial because only about 10 per cent of human proteins currently have an FDA-approved drug, with another 3-4 per cent under investigation.

“Before investing years of work in a protein target, DrugProtAI predicts whether the protein is druggable by looking beyond the protein's sequence, such as cellular location, structural attributes, and other unique characteristics it has,” said Dr. Ankit Halder, co-author of the study.

The tool generates a “druggability index” -- a probability score indicating how likely a protein is to be druggable. A higher score suggests that the protein shares many properties with proteins that already have approved drugs, while a lower score indicates that drug development would be more challenging.

“By integrating DrugProtAI directly into BrainProt, we created a pipeline where researchers can move from identifying a disease marker to examining its expression patterns to evaluating its druggability and exploring existing compounds or clinical trials, all within an hour,” Halder said.