7,938 Janaushadhi centres functional across India: Mandaviya

As many as 7,938 Pradhan Mantri Bharatiya Janaushadhi Kendras (PMBJKs) are functional across the country, Parliament was informed on Tuesday. "PMBJKs are functional in all the States/UTs, covering all districts of the country. As on 20.07.2021, 7,938 PMBJKs are functional across the country," Minister for Chemicals and Fertilizers Mansukh Mandaviya said in a written reply to the Lok Sabha.
The minister also said that before considering continuation of the scheme, it was evaluated by a NITI Aayog-approved private appraisal agency.

An internal review of the scheme was also made. The recommendations, after the detailed review, were duly considered and changes, as appropriate, were made in the proposal placed before the Standing Finance Committee (SFC) for its consideration.

"The scheme has since been approved for continuation," he added.

About the mechanism put in place to ensure availability of medicines at each PMBJK, Mandaviya said, "Information Technology enabled end-to-end supply chain system with Point-of-Sale application for value added services has been implemented in PMBJP. Further, the logistics system has been strengthened."

At present, three warehouses are functional at Gurugram, Chennai and Guwahati. In addition, 37 distributors have been appointed across the country to support the supply of medicines to remote and rural areas, he added.

All generic medicines listed in the National List of Essential Medicines (NLEM) are provided in PMBJKs except the lab reagents, Mandaviya said.

"The product basket of Pradhan Mantri Bharatiya Janaushadhi Pariyojana (PMBJP) comprises 1,451 medicines and 204 surgicals & consumables covering all major therapeutic groups such as anti infectives, anti-allergic, anti-diabetics, cardiovascular, anti-cancers, gastro-intestinal medicines, nutraceuticals, etc," he added.

In 2020-21 fiscal year, Rs 65 crore was allocated under PMBJP and it was fully utilised, Mandaviya said.