Chhattisgarh Certifies 309 Traditional Healers in Kondagaon to Preserve Tribal Medicine Knowledge
309 traditional healers in Chhattisgarh received certificates recognizing their experience and traditional knowledge at an event in Kondagaon, held under the Traditional Healers Voluntary Certification Programme run by the Chhattisgarh Aadivasi Sthaniya Swasthya Parampara Evam Aushadhi Padap Board.
Who attended the certification event
State Forest and Climate Change Minister Kedar Kashyap attended as chief guest, according to Patrika, which reported directly from the event. Board Chairman Vikas Markam presided over the proceedings.
Kondagaon MLA Lata Usendi, who also serves as vice-president of the Bastar Development Authority, attended as a special guest, along with Board Vice-Chairman Anjay Shukla, Patrika reported.
What the certificates recognize
The certificates formally acknowledge each healer’s years of experience, their traditional medical knowledge, and their service to their communities, Patrika reported. The programme falls under the Chhattisgarh Aadivasi Sthaniya Swasthya Parampara Evam Aushadhi Padap Board, the state body responsible for the local health traditions and medicinal plant resources of the state’s tribal communities.
Many of Chhattisgarh’s traditional healers, particularly in the Bastar region, pass down treatment knowledge through families across generations, without any formal state recognition until a programme like this one certifies it.
Why the state is doing this now
Patrika reported that the stated purpose of the certification drive is to preserve traditional medicine knowledge and document healers’ experience so it can be passed on to the next generation, rather than being lost as older practitioners age.
The event also stressed conserving medicinal plants and promoting minor millets such as kodo and kutki, and building local livelihoods through branding and marketing of forest produce, according to Patrika’s report. These are recurring themes in Chhattisgarh’s tribal welfare and forest-produce policy, tying the healers’ certification to a broader push on forest-based livelihoods in Bastar.
A broader state push on traditional medicine
Chhattisgarh has pursued more than one track on certifying traditional healers in recent years. A separate initiative, run by the Chhattisgarh State Biodiversity Board with the Quality Council of India and the University of Trans-Disciplinary Health Sciences and Technology in Bengaluru, aimed to certify 50 healers and was presented at an international seminar on medicinal plants in Dehradun in December 2024, according to The Hitavada. That report also cited a 2023 survey backed by the Biodiversity Board that had documented more than 100 healers across the Bastar, Durg and Dhamtari regions.
The Kondagaon certification of 309 healers runs under a different body, the Chhattisgarh Aadivasi Sthaniya Swasthya Parampara Evam Aushadhi Padap Board, and nothing in Patrika’s report ties the two programmes together directly. Taken together, they point to sustained state-level interest in formally recognizing tribal medicine knowledge rather than a single one-off event.
What is not yet clear
Patrika’s report does not specify the eligibility criteria used to select the 309 healers, how certification will affect their legal standing to practice, or whether the programme will expand to other districts beyond Kondagaon. Praman News has not independently verified these details beyond what the Board’s event and Patrika’s coverage state.
What to watch next
Whether the Board extends the certification programme to other tribal-majority districts of Chhattisgarh, and whether certification translates into any formal recognition for healers within the state’s health system, remain open questions.
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