Northeast to get 19 Jan Aushadhi stores by January end

In order to extend availability of generic medicines in the Northeast region, on which the NDA government is extremely bullish, the Centre plans to expand its existing network of Jan Aushadhi stores (JAS, which sell generic medicines at subsidised rates) to around 500 from the existing 114 across various parts of the country. The new stores may even be allowed to sell medical equipments of a certain price limit.

According to sources, plans are already afoot to open the stores in northeastern states like Tripura and Manipur, where a total of 19 JAS will be opened this month itself.

The initiative, which is being monitored by the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) in tandem with the Department of Pharmaceuticals, will undergo a revamp and if sources are to be believed, the JAS scheme is likely to have a change in nomenclature also with the Prime Minister relaunching it later this year.

Under the new scheme of things, the stores will not only sell 600 variety of medicines (up from the current 150) but may also be allowed to sell medical equipments of up to a certain price range. Currently, JAS don’t sell medical equipments.

Out of the 19 JAS, 10 are to be opened in Tripura while the remaining nine are to come up in Manipur, sources further informed this newspaper.

Currently out of the 114 JAS, Tripura has five while Mizoram has one. Other north-eastern states don’t have a single outlet.

Orissa leads the list with 23 outlets, followed by Punjab with 20, Jharkhand with 12 and Jammu & Kashmir as well as Himachal Pradesh with 11 outlets each.

Interestingly a populous state like Uttar Pradesh has only four JAS, while Madhya Pradesh has six, and other large states like Andhra Pradesh and Maharashtra have an abysmal one and three respectively.

Narendra Modi hovernment’s keenness to develop the north-eastern region is well known, as it has launched several infrastructure projects there since it came to power in May 2014.

Jan Aushadhi is a campaign which was launched by the Department of Pharmaceuticals in association with Central Pharma Public Sector Undertakings, to provide quality medicines at affordable prices to the masses.

JAS were set up to provide generic drugs, which are available at lesser prices but are equivalent in quality and efficacy as expensive branded drugs.

Generic medicines are unbranded drugs which are equally safe and having the same efficacy as that of branded ones.