NEW DELHI: Responding to questions raise in Parliament the Ministry replied that India’s AYUSH sector, the government arm for traditional and alternative medicine, is running with nearly half of its posts unfilled across key national institutes.

Of 5,553 sanctioned posts at 19 autonomous bodies, about 2,512 are vacant and only 3,041 are currently filled, leaving a vacancy rate of roughly 45 per cent nationwide, the Ministry of AYUSH told Parliament on 5 December 2025.

The Standing Committee on Health and Family Welfare’s 165th Report, published by the Rajya Sabha Secretariat on 12 March 2025 and laid before the Lok Sabha the same day, had earlier highlighted thousands of unfilled positions across research, academic, technical and paramedical cadres in AYUSH bodies.

The largest research body, the Central Council for Research in Ayurvedic Sciences (CCRAS) in New Delhi, has the most unfilled posts with 903 vacancies out of 1,708 sanctioned, meaning less than half the positions are occupied. Other research councils and institutes show similar shortfalls.

The Institute of Teaching and Research in Ayurveda (ITRA) in Jamnagar is operating with nearly 60 per cent of its posts vacant, while the All India Institute of Ayurveda (AIIA) in New Delhi has close to 193 unfilled positions.