Ayush Minister Ties Dhanteras to Preventive Healthcare

Prataprao Jadhav, Union Minister of State with Independent Charge for Ayush and Minister of State for Health and Family Welfare, has urged citizens to treat health and disease prevention as part of their Dhanteras observance. His appeal was issued on 4 November 2026. The point he pressed was that real wealth lies in sound health, and that families should invest in their long-term well-being as deliberately as they secure their finances.

Dhanteras and Dhanvantari

Dhanteras is also observed as Dhanvantari Jayanti. The day recalls the appearance of Lord Dhanvantari during the Samudra Manthan, the churning of the ocean, bearing the Amrit Kalash. Worshipped as the physician of the gods, Dhanvantari is tied closely to Ayurveda, India's own science of life and health. The minister noted that the festival is traditionally a day for buying gold, silver and household goods as emblems of prosperity, but added that such wealth carries fuller worth only when health goes with it.

The Ayurvedic principle cited

Jadhav drew on the Ayurvedic maxim Swasthasya Swasthya Rakshanam, which holds that the health of a healthy person must be guarded. He argued that talk of health usually starts only once illness has set in, whereas prevention deserves equal weight. The approach, he said, speaks directly to the rise of non-communicable diseases, desk-bound living and stress.

What families were asked to do

• Favour home-cooked, nourishing meals and cut back sharply on junk food
• Keep up regular physical activity, adequate sleep and stress management
• Make yoga a daily habit and go for health screenings on time
• Give particular care to elderly members, women and children
• Adopt at least one new positive health habit and persuade another family member to do the same

Ayush systems and the wider vision

The minister pointed to Ayushman Arogya Mandirs as a route by which Ayush-based services are reaching people at the community level. He also stressed the need for scientific research, quality standards and evidence-based practice so that India's traditional medicine contributes responsibly to the health system. Recalling Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Fit India vision, he said small but telling changes in daily routine help ward off lifestyle diseases, and that fitness underpins a healthy society rather than being a private pursuit alone. As the country works towards Viksit Bharat 2047, he argued, health-conscious citizens will be central to that journey. He closed on the maxim that health is the greatest wealth.