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Aiming to provide a fresh boost to the Centre's Jan Aushadhi (Public Medicine) Scheme, the Ministry of Chemicals and Fertilisers is making efforts to rope in Members of Parliament (MPs) for opening new stores in their constituencies.
This move comes close on the heels of the Department of Pharmaceuticals (DoP) initiating talks with various state governments regarding the matter.
The scheme, launched in 2008 under the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government, has not achieved its desired results so far.
While introducing the budget this year, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley had announced that the government would open 3000 stores by the year-end- an ambitious target given that there are only 500 open stores at present.
"Minister of State Mansukh Mandaviya has written to all MPs, asking them to lend a helping hand by ensuring that one or two Jan Aushadhi stores are opened in their constituencies," said a source close to the Minister of State for Surface Transport and Petroleum and Chemicals, Mansukh Lal Mandaviya.
The scheme is a direct market intervention plan that aims at making good quality generic medicines available at affordable prices in stores spread across 600 districts in the country.
The first store was opened at Amritsar in 2008, following which 150 more stores were opened in a period of seven years. But the scheme has got a new push under the Modi government that plans to provide an insurance cover of up to Rs 1 lakh to the poor.
Bejon Mishra, the founder of the Consumer Online Foundation, who also runs a Jan Aushadhi store in Varanasi says, “The Jan Aushadhi scheme will be a success only if those (who are) already in the healthcare business enter it.”
He said further that stock availability is another major concern confronting the stores, adding that the government needs to rope in doctors, having faith in generic medicines, as well in order to make the scheme a success.
“The scheme isn’t working for those in the business, because doctors end up prescribing branded medicines over pure generics," says Mishra.
The Jan Aushadhi stores sell generic medicines only.One of the main reasons for the slow progress of the scheme is the lack of support from state governments and medical professionals.
Availability of required medicines in time is also a key factor that could determine the success of the programme.
Discussions are being held with state governments of Andhra Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Punjab, Haryana, Kerala, Maharashtra, Arunachal Pradesh and Assam for pushing the programme in state government hospitals first.
The government is also looking to take the total number of medicines available in these stores to 1000. At present, around 500 drugs are found in these stores.
