The ambitious Jan Aushadhi scheme of the Modi government relaunched in September 2015, to provide quality medicines at cheaper rates to the common people, has failed to serve its purpose in the state.
The two stores set up in Jammu region, one each at Shri Maharaja Gulab Singh Hospital (SMGSH) and Government Medical College (GMC) Bakshi Nagar, are found shut on most days. On the days they are found open, they wear a deserted look amidst other chemist shops located nearby, which attract more number of people.
The state government’s aim to open 100 such stores through Bureau of Pharma Public Sector Unit (implementation agency for the scheme), announced about a year ago, is far from its target. At present, the government has not been able to put the six stores – two in Jammu and four in Kashmir, into business. The store owners are highly disappointed by the lack of supply, which is hitting their business and they prefer keeping their shutters down for most of the days.
Out of the listed 630 drugs, less than a hundred are available on any day in these stores. People find it better to visit an expensive private chemist shop when they know the state of these stores. The pressure from the pharma lobby is undeniable in this case since the closed or ill-stocked stores indirectly help the sale of private companies.
The noble initiative also suffers because doctors shy away from prescribing generic medicines, and advise their patients branded medicines from particular stores instead. Moreover, people have not developed trust in low-cost generic medicines. They have been conditioned over the years that expensive and branded medicines are better.
For the initiative to be successful in breaking the ‘medicine-mafia’, it also needs to be much more visible so it pops up in peoples’ minds as an efficient means to buy medicines.
waliaharry 