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 Uttar Pradesh, Kerala, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu have opened the highest number of government's low cost, quality generic medicines retail initiative Jan Aushadhi Kendras (JAKs), while some other states are yet to catch up to the trend, according to data from the ministry of chemicals and fertilisers.
According to the data, Uttar Pradesh has the highest number of JAKs, at 2,210 outlets, followed by Kerala (1,228), Karnataka (1,225) and Tamil Nadu (1,107). These are the only States which crossed the mark of 1000 outlets, while across the country, the Pharmaceuticals & Medical Devices Bureau of India (PMBI) has set up a total of 12,616 outlets till the end of June, 2024.
While Gujarat (682), Maharashtra (675), Bihar (638), and Odhisha (556) are faring well, States like Chandigarh (12), Himachal Pradesh (74), Jharkhand (120), Chattisgarh (202), Telangana (180), Andhra Pradesh (268), Uttarakhand (284), and Madhya Pradesh (403) are some of the States yet to leverage the benefits of the low cost generic stores.
The minister of state in the Union ministry of chemicals and fertilisers Anupriya Patel has recently said in the Lok Sabha that the scheme has made a significant impact to the lives of common people by providing quality generic medicines at affordable prices.
"Over the last 10 years, sale of medicines worth Rs. 5,600 crore have been made through PMBJKs (Pradhan Mantri Bhartiya Janaushadhi Kendras), which has led to estimated savings of Rs. 30,000 crore to the citizens. Further, the scheme provides opportunities for self-employment with sustainable and regular earnings," she said.
The number of retail outlets under the scheme has grown from 80 in 2014 to 12,616 till the end of June, 2024, and almost 35 per cent of these outlets established in the country are opened by women entrepreneurs.
It may be noted that the Central government is actively pursuing a target of 25,000 Jan Aushadhi Kendras under the Pradhan Mantri Bhartiya Janaushadhi Pariyojana, the flagship scheme of Department of Pharmaceuticals (DoP), by 2027.
Over the last 10 years, there has been a 200 times increase in sales turnover from Rs. 7.29 crore in 2014 to Rs. 1,470 crore till June 30, 2024. The product basket currently comprises 2047 medicines and 300 surgical and medical consumables, growing from 900 medicines and 154 surgical and medical consumables in 2019-20. These medicines cover all therapeutic groups viz. analgesic & antipyretic/anti-inflammatory, antidiabetic, anti-biotic and anti-fungal, cardiovascular, psychotropic, dermatology, vitamins & minerals, gastrointestinal, respiratory, anti-cancer, etc., said the Ministry.
Under PMBJP, 5 ayurvedic products have been added in the product basket, which are available at affordable rates. The products are Chyawanprash Special 500 gm, Chacareras Special 1000 gm, Triphala, Shilajit and Ashwagandha.
The Ministry also said that in order to strengthen and modernise the network of JAKs in the country, various steps have been taken by the Government including inviting online applications from all districts in the country, setting up of an IT-enabled end-to-end supply chain system has been designed with one central warehouse at Gurugram and four regional warehouses at Bengaluru, Chennai, Guwahati and Surat for smooth supply and products availability.
PMBI has also appointed 36 distributors across states/UTs to strengthen the supply chain system. A mobile application Janaushadhi Sugam has been launched, which provides a digital platform for use by general public, by the virtue of which they can avail of a host of user-friendly facilities like - locating a nearby Jan Aushadhi Kendra (direction guided through Google Map), search Jan Aushadhi medicines, compare generic vs. branded medicines in the form of MRP savings etc., said the Ministry.
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