India’s Homoeopathy Milestones: From 1839 to the AYUSH Era

In 1839, a homoeopathic dispensary opened in Calcutta — the first anywhere in India. Today, over 2.5 lakh registered homoeopathic practitioners practise across the country, backed by a central regulatory body, a dedicated research council, and a cabinet-level ministry. The journey between those two points is the story of how homoeopathy became an officially recognised profession in India, and why it still matters for everyone in the BHMS community today.

For students currently studying at colleges like State National Homoeopathic Medical College, Lucknow or Ghazipur Homoeopathic Medical College, and for practitioners who’ve already completed their BHMS, knowing this history isn’t just background. It explains why your degree is structured the way it is, why NEET was introduced, and what the profession is still working towards.

1839: The first homoeopathic dispensary in India

Homoeopathy reached India through German missionaries and European practitioners resident in Bengal during the colonial period. The first organised dispensary opened in Calcutta in 1839. Within a few decades, particularly in Bengal, it had built a significant following — partly because it offered an accessible, affordable option at a time when formal Western medicine was often out of reach for ordinary people.

By 1881, Calcutta Homoeopathic Medical College had been established, becoming the training ground for early generations of practitioners. The east was the heartland; the north and west came later. Uttar Pradesh’s own homoeopathic colleges arrived in the mid-twentieth century. SNHMC Lucknow was established in 1964, making it the oldest homoeopathic college in UP and one of the oldest in the country. It still trains students today.

1973: The Central Council of Homoeopathy Act

Before 1973, homoeopathic education and practice was regulated state by state. Standards varied considerably. Degree equivalencies were unclear. There was no national framework for what “qualified homoeopath” actually meant in practice.

The Central Council of Homoeopathy (CCH) Act, passed in 1973, changed this. It created a statutory body to maintain a central register of practitioners, set standards for homoeopathic education, and prescribe the BHMS curriculum. Every homoeopathic college in India — whether in Lucknow, Chennai, or Pune — now operates under CCH regulations.

For BHMS students, this matters directly. Your degree is recognised across India because of CCH. The subjects you study, the clinical hours you complete, the internship year you must do — all of it is CCH-mandated. Without the 1973 Act, your degree would be a state certificate rather than a nationally portable qualification.

1978: The Central Council for Research in Homoeopathy

The Central Council for Research in Homoeopathy (CCRH) was established in 1978 under the Ministry of Health. Its mandate: to plan, develop, and coordinate scientific research in homoeopathy. CCRH runs clinical research programmes, maintains a drug standardisation unit, and publishes findings that practitioners and regulators can reference.

The council was underfunded for much of its early history, but after 2014 it received significantly more resources. Its existence represents something important: a government body whose explicit job is to investigate how homoeopathic treatments work and to produce evidence. That evidence base is still developing — but the institution is there.

1990s: State councils and the BHMS seat expansion

Through the 1990s, most states formalised their own State Councils or Boards of Homoeopathy, bringing the same regulatory logic to the state level. Uttar Pradesh’s homoeopathic regulatory infrastructure was strengthened through this period, with a UP Board of Homoeopathic Medicine and Surgery overseeing college recognition and practitioner registration.

The same decade saw rapid growth in the number of BHMS colleges, particularly in the private sector. UP now has 12 CCH-recognised homoeopathic medical colleges — from JLNHMC Kanpur and LBSHMC Prayagraj to colleges in Moradabad, Azamgarh, and Gorakhpur. A full list of recognised colleges in the state is available on the BHMS colleges in UP guide.

2014: AYUSH becomes a cabinet ministry

This is probably the most significant institutional milestone of recent decades. Before 2014, Ayurveda, Yoga, Unani, Siddha, and Homoeopathy (AYUSH) sat as a department within the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare — limited budget, limited visibility, limited policy influence.

In November 2014, the Ministry of AYUSH was established as an independent cabinet ministry. For homoeopathy, this meant several concrete changes:

• A dedicated budget line, not a share of a broader health budget
• Direct representation at cabinet level, with its own minister
• Increased annual funding for CCRH, homoeopathic hospitals, and research
• Integration of homoeopathy into national health programmes and insurance frameworks

The AYUSH budget has grown every year since 2014. It remains smaller than the allopathic health budget, but the direction has been consistent. More practically for practitioners: AYUSH doctors are now part of national health infrastructure discussions in a way they weren’t before 2014.

2020: NEET becomes mandatory for BHMS

For anyone applying to BHMS today, NEET is simply part of the process. But it wasn’t always this way. Before 2020-21, states ran their own entrance exams for homoeopathic and ayurvedic admissions, with varying standards and widely different cut-offs.

The Supreme Court’s 2020 ruling making NEET mandatory for all BHMS admissions brought homoeopathic college entry into the same framework as MBBS. This raised the floor — students entering BHMS programmes had cleared a nationally standardised exam. It also made admissions more competitive. In UP, students typically need scores in the 200-400 range (out of 720) for BHMS, though the cut-off varies by college type (government versus private) and reservation category.

NEET also standardised the counselling process. UP AYUSH counselling now manages all BHMS seat allocations for the state, with a defined document checklist and a centralised merit-based process. The UP AYUSH counselling portal is the authoritative source for year-to-year details.

Where the community stands in 2026

India has the world’s largest homoeopathic practitioner community. Uttar Pradesh alone has thousands of practising homoeopaths, from rural primary health settings to specialist urban clinics. The community spans recent BHMS graduates still figuring out their first post and senior practitioners with decades of clinical experience.

What has historically been missing is connection within that community. Practitioners from the same college, the same batch, the same graduating year — they lose touch after internship. Urban practitioners connect through district associations; rural practitioners often work without a professional peer network. Patient referrals, case discussions, and professional support don’t flow as they should.

You can find verified homoeopathic practitioners across UP cities on Homoeopaths.org — in Lucknow, Kanpur, Varanasi, Gorakhpur, and other cities across the state. The platform organises practitioners by college and batch, which means a patient in Azamgarh can find a local verified doctor, and a BHMS student can connect with seniors from the same programme who’ve already navigated the career decisions they’re facing.

What the next few years may bring

A few things are worth watching:

• MD Homoeopathy seats: Postgraduate seats remain scarce relative to the number of BHMS graduates each year. Pressure to expand MD Hom programmes is growing, and the CCH has been examining this.
• Digital health integration: AYUSH practitioners are being progressively integrated into national digital health infrastructure — ABHA (health accounts), teleconsultation platforms, and national health registries. How this plays out will affect both how practitioners work and how patients find them.
• Research output: The question of the evidence base for homoeopathy won’t go away. CCRH’s clinical research over the next decade will have real consequences for the profession’s standing in health policy conversations.
• Community infrastructure: As more BHMS graduates enter practice and as patients become more active in seeking out verified practitioners, tools that support professional networking and help patients find qualified doctors will become more central to how the community functions.

For more on the profession and on finding practitioners or colleges, see the Homoeopaths.org blog and the practitioner search.

Frequently asked questions

When did homoeopathy first come to India?

The first organised homoeopathic dispensary in India is generally dated to 1839, in Calcutta, established through the influence of German missionaries and European practitioners then resident in Bengal. Formal homoeopathic education began in the 1880s with the establishment of Calcutta Homoeopathic Medical College.

What is the Central Council of Homoeopathy?

The CCH is a statutory body established under the Central Council of Homoeopathy Act, 1973. It maintains a central register of homoeopathic practitioners, sets the BHMS curriculum and training standards, and grants recognition to homoeopathic colleges across India. Graduates of CCH-recognised colleges can practise anywhere in the country.

Why was the AYUSH Ministry created separately?

Before 2014, AYUSH systems including homoeopathy operated as a sub-department within the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare. The independent Ministry of AYUSH, created in November 2014, gave traditional and alternative medicine systems dedicated budget authority, policy influence, and cabinet-level representation — a significant structural change for the profession.

When did NEET become compulsory for BHMS?

NEET was made mandatory for BHMS admissions from the academic year 2020-21 onwards, following a Supreme Court ruling. Before that, states ran their own entrance exams. The change standardised admissions nationally and brought BHMS into the same competitive framework as MBBS.

How many homoeopathic doctors are there in India?

As of recent estimates from the Ministry of AYUSH, India has over 2.5 lakh registered homoeopathic practitioners — the largest such community in the world. Uttar Pradesh, with 12 BHMS colleges and decades of homoeopathic education history, has one of the highest concentrations of both graduates and practising doctors.