Government’s booklet to pregnant women: Don’t consume “non-veg” and detach from lust

The Ministry of Ayurveda, Yoga and Naturopathy, Unani, Siddha and Homeopathy (AYUSH) in run up to International Yoga Day released a booklet – ‘Mother and Child Care’ on Tuesday.

Its recommendations include that a pregnant woman should abstain from consuming meat and detach themselves from lust.

The government-aided the Central Council for Research in Yoga and Naturopathy (CCRYN) had compiled the booklet. The CCRYN is under the AYUSH Ministry and was formed in 2014 to promote Indian traditional healing practices.

Page 14 of the booklet reads, “Pregnant women should detach themselves from desire, anger, attachment, hatredness and lust…(sic).” The ‘important’ recommendations made by the booklet do not end here. While it suggests pregnant women should not consume “egg, non-veg etc” it also advises them to “have spiritual thoughts.”

It also includes Indian households’ grandmother’s formula – “hang some good and beautiful pictures in the bedroom” as this will have a positive influence on the “child also.”

However, CCRYN’s Dr Ishwara N Acharya has said that these are mere suggestions and not prescriptions. He was quoted by news agency ANI as saying, “This was just a suggestion or an advisory, it’s not a prescription for pregnant women in India to not have sex, meat or be in bad company if you want to have healthy babies.”