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GOVERNMENT OF INDIA
MINISTRY OF TRIBAL AFFAIRS
LOK SABHA
UNSTARRED QUESTION NO-6291
TO BE ANSWERED ON-02/04/2026
RECOGNITION OF TRIBAL HEALERS
6291. ADV GOWAAL KAGADA PADAVI:
SHRI VISHALDADA PRAKASHBAPU PATIL:
MS. PRANITI SUSHILKUMAR SHINDE:
Will the Minister of TRIBAL AFFAIRS be pleased to state:
(a) whether the Government has recognised or proposes to recognise tribal healers as partners in
public health delivery under national health programmes in collaboration with the Ministry of
Health and Family Welfare and the Ministry of AYUSH and the policy framework governing
such recognition;
(b) if so, the number of tribal healers identified or formally recognised and the criteria adopted
for such identification, State/UT-wise, district-wise and year-wise particularly in Maharashtra;
(c) whether such recognised tribal healers would receive structured training, formal
accreditation, certification, honorarium and legal protection and whether quality control,
monitoring and standardised care protocols would be instituted to ensure safe and accountable
service delivery, if so, the details thereof; and
(d) the steps taken to ensure that documentation and integration of indigenous tribal medical
knowledge do not result in commercial exploitation, misappropriation or biopiracy and the
safeguards in place to protect community intellectual rights?
ANSWER
MINISTER OF STATE FOR TRIBAL AFFAIRS
(SHRI DURGADAS UIKEY)
(a): The Ministry of Tribal Affairs (MoTA) organized a national capacity-building programme
for Tribal Healers at Hyderabad, Telangana on 16 January 2026. The aim was to engage tribal
healers as community-level partners in strengthening health outreach in tribal areas in
collaboration with the Ministry of Health & Family Welfare (MoHFW), ICMR-RMRC BB and
Ministry of AYUSH.(b): Ministry of Tribal Affairs has articulated an indicative national target to enable recognition
of one lakh tribal healers. However, identification, enumeration and criteria for recognition are
undertaken at State level and through health system frameworks under Ministry of Health and
Family Welfare and the Ministry of AYUSH. In the capacity building program held on 16
January 2026 at Hyderabad, Telangana, State/ UT Governments have forwarded list of approx.
500 tribal healers for attending the programme. Around 50 numbers of tribal healers from
Maharashtra attended the programme.
(c): Ministry of Tribal Affairs in collaboration with Indian Council of Medical Research -
Regional Medical Research Centre, Bhubaneshwar, Odisha is working on developing structured
capacity-building and sensitization programmes for tribal healers, including training on
preventive care, awareness generation, early identification and referral linkages.
(d): The protection of indigenous tribal medical knowledge and prevention of its misuse is
primarily the responsibility of State Governments, which oversee documentation processes and
safeguard community intellectual rights. Ministry of Tribal Affairs has prepared a Standard
Operating Procedure (SOP) for capacity building programmes that incorporates ethical
considerations, including prior informed consent and respect for traditional knowledge systems.
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