The Union Health and Family Welfare Minister Mr. Ghulam Nabi Azad has emphasised the need for developing the Ayurvedic and Unani systems of medicine to bring them at par with Allopathy. Speaking at a seminar on 'Scenario of Indian system of medicine and medicinal plantation'in New Delhi tday, Mr Azad said,allopathy is an infant compared to Ayurveda. He said, sixty per cent people, especially those living in rural India, and in mountainous region, depend heavily on the medicinal plants and the Unani, Homeopathy and Ayurveda systems of medicine. On employment opportunities for those graduating in Ayurvedic or Unani systems of medicine, the Minister said, ''Earlier Unani and Ayurveda were not associated with employment. but the government of India and the Department of Ayusha has in the last one year generated employment for those coming from these branches of medicine.Mr. Azad informed that In last one year, 9,000 doctors from these streams have got employment.The Minister said there is a large scope for exporting ayurvedic products.Of the 3,90,500 Metric Tonnes of raw material, 56,500 MT is exported which accounts for 355 crore rupees. The finished products in form of medicines that are used in India accounts for 8,800 crore rupees.This shows that there is a lot of scope for increasing the exports.