Centre may open 5,000 more Jan Aushadhi stores by March 2019

The Centre has set a target to open 5,000 additional Prime Minister Jan Aushadhi Kendras (PMJAKs) by March 2019. The Jan Aushadhi mission has been a big hit, with 4,300 stores operational across the country, according to official data from the Bureau of Pharma PSUs of India (BPPI). The PMJAK mission, dubbed as a crusade against the medicine mafia, was started to encourage sale of cheaper generic medicines. Generic medicines use the same active ingredients as brand-name medicines and work the same way; so they have the same risks and benefits as the brand-name medicines. Operating under the Department of Pharmaceuticals, the BPPI implements the “revamped” PMJAY which was first launched under the UPA government in 2008. According to BPPI data, after reforms introduced by the Narendra Modi government, the Jan Aushadhi initiative has ramped up high. From November 2008, when the first shop was established in Amritsar, till 2014, the mission could only witness little expansion of Jan Aushadhi stores and the country witnessed opening of  only 100 stores across the country in six years of the UPA government. This number increased to 1,253 in April 2017 to the present 4,300 plus stores. The credit for the success of Jan Aushdhi mission goes to the Modi government, a BPPI official siad. “Ever since the Modi government came to power, it has taken greater responsibility in expanding this mission. The project was made more viable, the incentives to start a store were revised to Rs 2.5 lakh from Rs 1.5 lakh and distributor’s margins were also increased,” he told The Sunday Guardian.