Kudos to  Narendra Modi government for  now reviving an ailing UPA-era healthcare scheme, which promised quality generic medicines at affordable prices, as it looks to supplement Ayushman Bharat — its flagship health insurance initiative —  ahead of the 2019 Lok Sabha elections. The BJP-led government had relegated the Pradhan Mantri Bhartiya Janaushadhi Pariyojana (PMBJP) — first launched by the UPA in 2008 but repackaged by the NDA in 2015 — as it has been struggling to live up to its promise due to frequent quality lapses and stock shortages. Instead, the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) had begun promoting Ayushman Bharat.

The government’s renewed interest in PMBJP, earlier known as the Jan Aushadhi Yojana, stems from the fact that the scheme has made a turnaround, with reduced quality complaints and increased product availability across the 4,600 state-owned outlets set up to sell the generic medicines. As a result, the BJP-led government is planning to celebrate ‘Jan Aushadhi Diwas’ during the last week of January. “Regaining the confidence in the scheme, the PMO is considering a proposal to celebrate Jan Aushadhi Day,” said a top government official from the Department of Pharmaceuticals (which falls under the Ministry of Chemicals and Fertilisers), which runs the scheme.

Under PMBJP, the Department of Pharmaceuticals sells the generic medicines through the Bureau of Pharma PSUs of India (BPPI). The scheme was re-launched by the Modi government in 2015 but it had been struggling. According to the BPPI, however, no quality problem has been reported in the last two months against (at least) one recall every month. Buoyed by the turnaround, the BPPI now plans to increase the number of products being sold in the stores, from the current 913 products to 1,000 by February. The government also wants to expand the scheme from just generic medicines to products such as pregnancy-testing kits, baby and adult diapers and nicotine replacement pills, among others. The generic drugs scheme was launched to make patients get drugs at avoidable rates than from the branded one. Many states including Assam had introduced this scheme and government doctors were advised to write only generic names not the brand names.

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Kenter Joya Riba

(Managing Editor)
      She is a graduate in Science with post graduation in Sociology from University of Pune. She has been in the media industry for nearly a decade. Before turning to print business, she has been associated with radio and television.
Email: kenterjoyaz@easternsentinel.in / editoreasternsentinel@gmail.com
Phone: 0360-2212313

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