Women Account for 43% of Overall Ayush Services Workforce; Representation Exceeds 50% Across Several Organised Segments

1. At a Glance

• Women make up 43% of the whole Ayush services workforce. In several organised segments (hospitals, day-care centres, educational institutes and wellness establishments) they are more than 50% [1].
• The Ayush services economy covers Ayurveda, Yoga & Naturopathy, Unani, Siddha, Sowa-Rigpa and Homoeopathy. It was valued at US$36.92 bn in FY2024-25, supports about 1.76 million livelihoods, and is projected to reach US$216–318 bn by 2047 [1].
• UPSC relevance: the topic links women's economic participation (GS-I/II) with the services economy and jobs (GS-III), traditional medicine as soft power (GS-II), and Viksit Bharat@2047 [1].

2. Why in the News

• 08 Oct 2026: PIB (Ministry of Ayush) published the gender and employment findings of the Ayush Service Sector Report. The report is a study by RIS (Research and Information System for Developing Countries) and was released on Ayurveda Day 2026 [1].
• Ayurveda Day now has a fixed date, 23 September, so the 2026 observance falls on 23 Sep 2026 [4].

3. Background & Evolution

• 29 Sep 2014: National AYUSH Mission (NAM) notified as a Centrally Sponsored Scheme [5].
• Nov 2014: Ministry of AYUSH formed as a separate ministry [11].
• 2020: NCISM Act, 2020 repealed the Indian Medicine Central Council Act, 1970. It regulates education and practice in Ayurveda, Unani, Siddha and Sowa-Rigpa [6].
• 25 Mar 2022: WHO set up the Global Traditional Medicine Centre (GTMC) with foundational support from India. It is a WHO HQ department outposted to Jamnagar, Gujarat [7][8].
• Earlier RIS work: the Ministry of Ayush and RIS signed an MoU to profile the Ayush service sector. A preliminary RIS study put service-sector revenue at ₹1,66,797 crore [3].
• 23 Mar 2025: a Gazette notification fixed Ayurveda Day on 23 September (the autumnal equinox). It replaced the variable Dhanteras date [4].

4. Core Static Facts

Item	Fact
Overall female share of workforce	43% [1]
Spas & wellness resorts	>60% women [1]
Educational institutes	58% [1]
Day-care centres	57% [1]
Hospitals	53% [1]
Sector size, FY2024-25	US$36.92 bn; 16.91% CAGR since FY2022-23 [1]
Direct livelihoods	1.76 million; >1 million in local/standalone clinics [1]
Largest segment by revenue	Standalone clinics: US$16.21 bn (43.9%) [1]
Day-care centres revenue	US$10.13 bn; clinics + day-care together >70% [1]
Largest system	Ayurveda: US$17.73 bn (~48%) [1]
Fastest-growing	Wellness at 21.29% CAGR; Yoga centres revenue up ~75% in two years [1]
Medical Value Travel (MVT)	US$1.77 bn (FY2024-25). Foreign patients are ~5% of patient volume but bring 15–25% of hospital-segment revenue. Typical stay is 5–11 days [1]
2047 projection	US$216–318 bn [1]
Report author	RIS (a New Delhi think-tank, not NITI Aayog) [1][3]
Ministry	Ministry of Ayush. MoS (Independent Charge): Prataprao Jadhav. Secretary: Vaidya Rajesh Kotecha [1]
Ayush budget, 2026-27	₹4,408 crore [2]*
Ayush AAMs	12,260 functional (as on 19 Sep 2026); NAM target 12,500 [2]*

*Taken from search-result text; the PIB page itself returned 403 and could not be checked line by line.

5. Multi-Dimensional Analysis

Economic

• A 16.91% CAGR makes this a high-growth services sector. The 2047 projection is roughly 6–9× the FY25 base (my calculation from [1]).
• Revenue is concentrated: standalone clinics plus day-care centres earn >70% of it [1]. Most activity is small-scale and close to informal.
• MVT is a foreign-exchange earner. Foreign patients pay well above their share of volume [1].

Social / Gender

• Women are over-represented in organised segments (53–60%+) but make up only 43% overall [1]. By implication, the unorganised and clinic segment, which holds over 1 million livelihoods, is male-dominated.
• Wellness, education and day-care work is formal and service-based. It can offer women more secure jobs than informal care work [1].
• The Secretary has linked organised-sector growth (quality standards, skilling, digital infrastructure) to better-quality employment for women [1].

Geographic / Inclusion

• The >1 million livelihoods in local and standalone clinics are spread across urban and rural India [1].
• Sowa-Rigpa is practised in Sikkim, Arunachal Pradesh, Darjeeling, Himachal Pradesh and Ladakh [9]. That gives Himalayan regions their own employment base.

Geopolitical / Soft Power

• Hosting WHO GCTM at Jamnagar [7][8] and earning MVT revenue [1] help position India as a global centre for traditional medicine.

Governance / Administrative

• Regulation happens through NCISM under the 2020 Act [6]. Service delivery runs through the NAM CSS, which needs Centre–State cooperation [5].
• Gap: most of the workforce sits in small clinics, so standards, licensing and data collection are hard to enforce. The report's emphasis on "organised" growth reflects this [1].

6. Recent Developments (last 12–18 months)

• 23 Mar 2025: Ayurveda Day fixed on 23 September [4].
• 2026: Union Budget allocated ₹4,408 crore to the Ministry of Ayush [2][10].
• 19 Sep 2026: 12,260 Ayush AAMs functional under NAM [2].
• 23 Sep 2026 (Ayurveda Day): RIS released the Ayush Service Sector Report [1][4].
• 08 Oct 2026: PIB release on women making up 43% of the workforce [1].

7. Prelims Hooks

• Women are 43% of the overall Ayush services workforce [1].
• Female share is highest in spas & wellness resorts (>60%) and lowest of the four named segments in hospitals (53%) [1].
• Ayush services economy: US$36.92 bn in FY2024-25 [1].
• CAGR since FY2022-23: 16.91%. Wellness segment CAGR: 21.29% [1].
• Direct livelihoods: 1.76 million [1].
• Largest revenue segment: standalone clinics (43.9%, US$16.21 bn) [1].
• Largest system: Ayurveda (~48%, US$17.73 bn) [1].
• MVT revenue: US$1.77 bn. Foreign patients are ~5% of volume and 15–25% of hospital revenue [1].
• 2047 projection: US$216–318 bn [1].
• The report was prepared by RIS [1].
• "AYUSH" covers six streams in the release: Ayurveda, Yoga & Naturopathy, Unani, Siddha, Sowa-Rigpa, Homoeopathy [1].
• Ayurveda Day = 23 September, fixed by a Gazette notification of 23 Mar 2025. It was earlier observed on Dhanteras [4].
• NAM is a Centrally Sponsored Scheme notified on 29 Sep 2014 [5].
• The NCISM Act, 2020 repealed the IMCC Act, 1970 [6].
• WHO GCTM was set up in 2022 at Jamnagar, Gujarat. It is WHO's first such global outposted centre [7][8].

8. What 43% Tells Us, and What It Does Not

• The number counts heads. It says nothing about pay, rank or ownership.
• The release gives women's share of jobs in each segment [1].
• It does not say how many of these women are doctors, clinic owners, teachers or therapists. It does not say what any of them earn.

• So 43% shows that women are present in the sector. It does not show that women are equal in it.

• Health and care work around the world shows why pay must be checked separately

• Women are 67% of health and care workers worldwide [14].
• Yet they earn about 24% less than men in the same sector. That gap is bigger than in most other sectors [14].
• Pay in the sector as a whole is also lower. Sectors where most workers are women tend to pay less [14].

• A high share of women can therefore sit alongside low pay. Spas and wellness (>60% women [1]) are the segment to watch.

• A fair counter-view: "more women in spas is not empowerment"

• The strongest objection is that women are clustered in wellness and day-care. Critics call this "pink-collar" work: service jobs that are mostly done by women and are often low-paid.
• That concern is valid. The ILO–WHO pay finding shows that a large female share and low wages often go together [14].
• But the objection goes too far if it treats these jobs as worse than the alternative. Only 18.2% of working women in India hold regular wage or salaried jobs [12]. An organised job in a hospital, institute or wellness centre may still be a step up from unpaid or casual work.
• Honest reading: it is a better entry point for women, but it is not proof of equality.

9. How to Read 43% Against India's Female Labour Data

• Do not put 43% next to the female LFPR as if they measure the same thing
• Female LFPR (Labour Force Participation Rate: the share of all women aged 15+ who are working or looking for work) was 40.0% in 2025 [12].
• 43% is something else. It is the share of Ayush workers who are women [1].

• One measures women in the population. The other measures women inside one sector. Comparing them directly is a common answer-writing mistake.

• The real link is the type of job, not the headcount

• Regular wage/salaried work among women rose only from 16.6% (2024) to 18.2% (2025) [12].

• Organised Ayush segments with more than 50% women [1] are among the few places where such jobs could grow quickly, because the sector is growing at 16.91% a year [1].

• Why women stay out of work in the first place

• In PLFS 2021-22, 44.5% of women outside the labour force gave childcare or homemaking duties as the reason [13].
• Day-care and wellness centres offer fixed hours and local work. That may suit women with these duties better than long hospital shifts. This is an inference: the release does not test it.

10. Why the Small-Clinic Workforce Stays Hard to See and Regulate

• The biggest part of the sector is also the least measured
• More than 1 million of the 1.76 million livelihoods are in local and standalone clinics [1].

• Women are below 43% there, as the note works out. Yet this is exactly where data is weakest.

• Parliament already flagged the data problem

• The Standing Committee on Health and Family Welfare reviewed the National Ayush Mission in its report of 9 Feb 2024 [15].
• It asked for standardised data collection, better infrastructure, and research training for Ayush practitioners [15].

• Without standard data, a figure like 43% comes from a single study. It cannot be tracked year by year to see whether women's share is rising or falling.

• Regulation reaches the doctor, not the whole workforce

• NCISM regulates education and practice for Ayurveda, Unani, Siddha and Sowa-Rigpa [6].
• Spa therapists, yoga instructors and wellness attendants are outside a practitioner register of this kind. Wellness is the fastest-growing segment at 21.29% CAGR [1], and it is also where women are most concentrated (>60%) [1].
• So the fastest-growing, most female segment has the thinnest rules on training, safety and working conditions.

11. Why the 2047 Jobs Promise Depends on Trust Abroad

• The projection is a wide range, not a target
• US$216–318 bn by 2047 [1] is a gap of about US$100 bn between the low and high ends.

• Much of the upside rests on wellness and Medical Value Travel. Both depend on buyers, including foreign ones, trusting quality and safety.

• Many countries still do not recognise traditional-medicine practitioners

• In 2018, 124 countries had laws on herbal medicines. But only 78 regulated traditional and complementary medicine practitioners, and only 45 covered it under health insurance [17].

• Where there is no practitioner law, an Indian Ayush professional has no clear legal route to practise. Where insurance does not cover it, patients pay from their own pocket. Both limit demand.

• WHO's own strategy puts evidence first

• WHO's Global Traditional Medicine Strategy 2025–2034 gives priority to building strong evidence and to rules that ensure safety and quality [16].
• India hosts WHO GCTM at Jamnagar [7]. This gives India a good place to lead that evidence work. If the evidence does not come, the soft-power and job claims become harder to defend.

12. Who Should Act, and How

• Ministry of Ayush with MoSPI: count the workforce every year, broken down by gender and role
• The Standing Committee has already asked for standardised data collection [15].

• A regular survey that separates women doctors, owners, teachers and therapists would show whether 43% means equal jobs or only more jobs.

• Ministry of Ayush: add pay and role data to the next RIS round

• The ILO–WHO study found a 24% gender pay gap in health and care [14].

• Asking the same question for Ayush would test whether the sector repeats that gap.

• Ministry of Ayush with skilling bodies: set training and certification standards for wellness workers

• Wellness is the most female segment (>60%) and the fastest-growing one (21.29% CAGR) [1], but it lies outside NCISM's practitioner scope [6].

• Certified skills would give these women a portable credential and a stronger case for better wages.

• Ministry of Ayush through WHO GCTM: build evidence and push for practitioner recognition abroad

• This follows WHO's 2025–2034 strategy [16].
• Only 78 countries regulate traditional-medicine practitioners [17], so recognition abroad is what turns MVT and wellness exports into jobs at home.

13. Anchors for Answers

• Data: Women are 43% of Ayush services workers overall, and over 60% in spas and wellness [1]
• Data: Female LFPR was 40.0% in 2025; only 18.2% of working women held regular salaried jobs [12]
• Data: Women are 67% of health and care workers worldwide but earn about 24% less than men [14]
• Data: 44.5% of women outside the labour force cite childcare or homemaking (PLFS 2021-22) [13]
• Report/Committee: Standing Committee on Health and Family Welfare, Review of National Ayush Mission (9 Feb 2024): standardise data, train practitioners in research [15]
• Report/Committee: ILO–WHO, The gender pay gap in the health and care sector (2022) [14]
• Law/Case: NCISM Act, 2020, which repealed the IMCC Act, 1970 [6]
• Comparison: In 2018, 124 countries regulated herbal medicines but only 78 regulated practitioners and 45 gave insurance cover [17]
• Comparison: WHO Global Traditional Medicine Strategy 2025–2034: evidence and safety regulation come first [16]
• Scheme: National Ayush Mission (CSS, 2014), the main channel for organised-sector Ayush jobs [5]

14. Mains Relevance

• GS-I: Role of women; social empowerment.
• GS-II: Issues relating to health; welfare schemes (NAM); India and international bodies (WHO GCTM).
• GS-III: Indian economy and employment; growth of the services sector; inclusive growth.
• Question stems: 1. Women's participation in the Ayush services sector exceeds 50% in organised segments but not in the sector overall. Analyse the reasons and suggest measures to formalise Ayush employment. (15 marks) 2. Examine the potential of the Ayush services economy as an engine of employment and Medical Value Travel on the path to Viksit Bharat@2047. (10 marks) 3. Traditional medicine as soft power: evaluate India's institutional efforts to integrate Ayush into mainstream and global healthcare. (15 marks)

15. Related Topics to Study Next

• National Ayush Mission & Ayush Arogya Mandirs: the main delivery scheme behind organised-sector jobs.
• NCISM Act, 2020 / NCH Act, 2020: the regulatory framework for Ayush practitioners and education.
• WHO GCTM, Jamnagar: the global traditional-medicine architecture India hosts.
• Female Labour Force Participation Rate (PLFS): the macro context for the 43% figure.
• Medical Value Travel / Heal in India / Ayush Visa: the MVT revenue channel.
• Care economy and the services sector: wellness and day-care as gendered service work.
• ICD-11 Traditional Medicine Module 2: standardisation of Ayush terminology.
• Sowa-Rigpa / National Institute of Sowa Rigpa, Leh: regional diversity in the Ayush systems.

16. NCERT Concepts to Revise

• Organised sector (Economy): The note's core contrast is women's high share in organised segments versus the overall workforce, where small clinics dominate.
• Female labour force participation rate (Economy): Gives the national context for the 43% figure, which measures women inside one sector, not in the population.
• Gender wage gap (Economy): The note warns that a high female share can coexist with lower pay, as in global health and care work.
• Care economy (Economy): Wellness and day-care are gendered service work; this explains why women cluster there and why it is undervalued.
• Periodic Labour Force Survey (Economy): Source of the female LFPR, salaried-job and homemaking-reason figures used to read the 43% share.
• Centrally sponsored schemes (Economy): National Ayush Mission is a CSS, so delivery depends on Centre-state cost sharing and cooperation.

17. Common Errors / Trap Areas

• 43% vs >50%: 43% is the overall share. ">50%" applies only to selected organised segments. Do not mix them up.
• Revenue leader vs growth leader: the largest segment is standalone clinics, but the fastest-growing is wellness (21.29% CAGR). Ayurveda is the largest system, not a segment.
• Wrong author: the study is by RIS, not NITI Aayog, ICMR or MoSPI.
• Ayurveda Day date: it is now fixed at 23 September, not Dhanteras (and not 23 March, which is the date of the notification).
• NCISM scope: it covers Ayurveda, Unani, Siddha and Sowa-Rigpa. Homoeopathy has its own commission (NCH).