Ramdev-owned Patanjali Gurukulam demanded money to let children studying there leave for home

A huge controversy was stirred recently after Yoga guru Baba Ramdev allegedly termed Allopathy as “a stupid science” and blamed Allopathic medication for the death of lakhs of COVID patients, triggering protests by the Indian Medical Association (IMA).

The Uttarakhand unit of the IMA went on to slap a Rs 1,000 crore defamation suit against him.

Now, allegations have been made that Patanjali Gurukulam, an educational institute owned by Ramdev, demanded money from the parents of four students – hailing from Chhattisgarh – who were studying there before permitting them to return home.

As per a complaint lodged before the Haridwar district magistrate on May 26 by the parents of the students, they had already deposited Rs 260000 with the institute at the time of admission. But when they asked it to let their children return home, they were allegedly asked to shell out more money.

“They (Gurukul) demanded Rs 2 lakh as security money. We are not able to pay this amount,” reads the letter signed by the parents.

The parents also approached the Chhattisgarh government seeking help in securing the release of the students.

Local media has also reported about the incident.

Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel tweeted that the matter had been brought to his notice, and that the students had been released after the intervention of the collector and SP of Gariaband.

National Herald reached out to a Patanjali spokesperson in Delhi for comments, but the spokesman has not responded so far.

Earlier in February, Patanjali re-launched its ‘Coronil’ medicine for COVID patients, claiming that it had received due approval from the Union Ayush ministry as per the World Health Organisation’s certification scheme.

However, the WHO stated that it had not certified the efficacy of any traditional medicine for COVID-19 treatment