Advisor to Governor, K Vijay Kumar Saturday said that Ayurvedic medical treatment is gaining popularity across the country due to its effectiveness and focus would be to further promote it as alternative medicine system.The Advisor was speaking during an inaugural function of two-day ‘Continuing Medical Education Programme’ for private practitioners of Ayurveda here today.The programme was sponsored by Union Ministry of AYUSH and organized by Nikhil Bharatvarshiya Ayurveda Vidyapeeth.Advisor said that the faith of patients in Ayurvedic treatment is increasing as it is without any side effects. He added that there is a positive environment for the rapid development of Ayurved treatment and preference should be given to research to further enhance its effectiveness. Kumar said better health care is the top priority of the governor’s administration and many awareness camps were held to promote AYUSH system of medicines within the state. He said that many people in the country are turning to alternative medicine systems and treatments such as Unani, Siddha, Naturopathy and Homoeopathy. He expressed the hope that in coming years better and effective policies would be framed to promote traditional systems of medicine.The Advisor suggested the organizers for conducting such conferences in the state in future as well to further raise awareness about the alternative medical treatments.Others who also spoke on the occasion include Dr B R Sharma, Patron (AJKAC) All Jammu and Kashmir Ayurvedic Congress, Dr. B D Gupta, President AJKAC, Dr H. N Patwari, Secretary NAA, National Academy of Ayurveda, Dr T R Gupta Central Organization Secretary AJKAC, Dr Kartar Singh General Secretary and Dr Raghuvir Singh, Principal JIAR Jammu.P.G Scholars, JIAR Jammu, Private Practitioners of Ayurveda Jammu and people from different walks of life were also present on the occasion.