The Central Ethics Committee (CEC) of the Central Council for Research in Ayurvedic Sciences (CCRAS), Ministry of Ayush, Government of India, underwent an external evaluation by the internationally recognized ethics accreditation body-the Strategic Initiative for Developing Capacity in Ethical Review (SIDCER) under the aegis of the Forum for Ethical Review Committees in the Asian and Western Pacific Region (FERCAP) from 9th to 12th March 2026.

The survey team comprised two international surveyors and three Indian surveyors who conducted a comprehensive assessment of the committee’s ethical review processes and operational standards.

The SIDCER-FERCAP Foundation is dedicated to strengthening the ethical conduct of health research through international collaboration and capacity building. Its rigorous evaluation process benchmarks ethics committees against global, national, and local standards, promoting continuous quality improvement and enhancing the protection of human research participants.

To date, 17 Indian institutions from the field of contemporary medical sciences have undergone review by the SIDCER-FERCAP survey team. Notably, the Central Ethics Committee of CCRAS has become the first ethics committee from the Ayush sector to undertake this prestigious evaluation.

This milestone initiative reflects CCRAS’s commitment to further enhancing the quality, transparency, and accountability of its ethical review processes. The exercise is expected to elevate the standards of ethics governance within the Ayush research ecosystem to an international level and serve as a model for other premier Ayush institutions to emulate.

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