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Even as the government of Tamil Nadu is taking all steps to launch the subsidized generic pharmacy network scheme, ‘Mudhalvar Marundhagam’ (Chief Minister’s Pharmacy) on the day of Tamil New Year (January 14, Pongal Day), the state Chemists and Druggists Association (TNCDA) has urged the government to involve their members also into the scheme to run the government sponsored generic stores.
The president of the association, SA Ramesh has written to the chief minister, health minister and the health secretary that the association is ready to support the scheme through their entities, so that the generic medicines at cheaper rates will reach the people living in every nook and corner of the state. The government plans to sell generic versions of medicines at a rate less than the prices of the generic drugs now available at the Jan Aushadhi Stores. The Tamil Nadu Medical Services Corporation is the agency to supply the generics to the medical shops.
In the first phase, the government wants to launch 1,000 units of Mudhalvar Marundhagam, out of which 400 units will be set up through co-operative societies and 600 through entrepreneurs. For starting the units, the government is offering a loan facility of rupees three lakhs through cooperative banks. Out of the three lakhs, fifty percent will be given in cash for infrastructure facilities, and fifty percent will be given in kind as medicines.
The government has notified the scheme and soon the ADC offices of the drug control department will start receiving applications for licences. According to the notification, to obtain a drug licence for starting Mudhalvar Marundhagam, the applicant should have, as a prerequisite, a premises area of 10 square meter for retail and wholesale businesses, and 15 square meter for both. Further, there should be facilities for racks, refrigerators and air-conditioning. For the 600 common pharmacies, the government prefers pharmacy graduates to launch their start-up units to become entrepreneurs.
The president of the Tamil Nadu State Pharmacy Council (TNSPC), J Jayaseelan, who is also a member of the advisory panel of the government, wanted the government to give utmost importance to the pharmacy graduates to encourage them to start their own business entities in the pharmacy sector. He said, this is a chance for the pharmacy graduates to launch start-up business firms with the support of the government, and through them the generic medicines can reach the common people. He wanted the pharmacy graduates to avail the loan facility and become entrepreneurs.
Meanwhile, the senior most pharma trader and former president of the TNCDA, Mannargudi Ramachandran said the government’s new scheme of the network subsidized pharmacies will savagely suppress the growth of the traditional chemists and druggists in the state. He said there are already a lot of discount pharmacies who sell medicines at subsidized rates. Further, there are Jan Aushadhi Stores everywhere to sell generic drugs. In the midst of these, the traditional pharma traders are struggling hard to survive. He also said that the conventional chemists and druggists are ready to support the scheme by selling the generic medicines through their pharmacies. According to Ramachandran, the Mudhalvar Marundhagam is likely to force the existing medical shops to close down as they will face many challenges with the launch of the government chain group.
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