The Tamil Nadu government is taking all efforts to start a seperate Siddha department in Primary Health Centres in the state, deputy chief minister M K Stalin said on Friday.

In his address at a conference on Tamil medicine, he said the state was giving priority for traditional Siddha medicine.

Stalin said the government had ordered all hospitals to stock a particular herb, reported to be effective to treat Chikungunya after suggestions put foward by the siddha medical fraternity.

'We are taking efforts to start separate Siddha departments in all PHCs. Besides, chief minister M Karunanidhi had laid the foundation stone for the National Institute of Siddha (NIS) here, which was later inaugurated by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh,' he said.

Further, the state government had allotted five acres of land near Chennai for research on local medicine.

Stalin also urged Siddha practitioners to carry out extensive research on herbs.