Udupi: Among the districts in the state, Udupi district stands first for having the best functioning Prime Minister Jan Aushadhi Center. Including the 45 centres in undivided Dakshina Kannada (DK – 24, Udupi – 21), there are 560 PMJ centres in the state. The centres in Udupi district are doing a total daily sale of Rs 1.50 lakh to Rs 2 lakh worth of medicines while the centres in DK district are achieving a total daily sale of Rs 75,000. More than one lakh people are taking benefit of this facility.
Udupi: Medicine worth Rs 10 crore required
Every month, medicines worth Rs 45 lakh are purchased in the district. The same if bought with branded labels will cost Rs 4 crore. Presently, there is a demand for medicine worth Rs 10 crore. The highest amount of sale is being made by the centres run by Red Cross and Sadguru Sauharda government institutions in Kundapur.
DK: Medicine worth Rs 6 crore required
Most of the PMJ centres in DK district are located in rural areas. Every month, medicine worth Rs 30 lakh is being bought. The annual demand for the medicine is at Rs 6 crore. Chandramohan centre in urban area does a daily business of Rs 50,000.
Notice to 2 centres in the district
Janushadh cannot be sold in black markets. Misuse is impossible since the purchase and sale is through a centralized system. However, show cause notice has been sent to two PMJ centres in Kapu and Shiribagilu respectively for selling non-generic medicines at a higher than MRP price. Besides, their permits too have been cancelled.
There is medicine stock
Delhi and Chennai have massive godowns which have the capacity to supply medicine to 5,000 centres at the same time. The Sadguru Jan Aushadhi centres in Udupi, buy their stock directly from the godown.
Since BPPI has given the permit to only 2 institutions in the state to provide the medicine requirement, the supply is not matching the demand. Centres purchasing directly from Delhi and Chennai godowns are getting a supply as per their necessity.
Specialty of the centres
The medicines being sold at Jan Aushadhi centres do not bear any branding but are of excellent quality. Medicine being sold at Rs 100 in retail will cost a mere Rs 10 here. 800 various medicines are being sold at PMJ centres.
Purchased from reputed companies
BPPI purchases the medicine from 100 reputed manufacturers in the country after checking the medicine for quality. The Drug Controller division, tests the medicine in stock every once in 10 days. There are some problems being faced by PMJ centres concerning supply, but the quality of the medicine is uncompromised.
Mostly caters for the needs of the rich!
Rich people are taking benefit of the PMJ centers which primarily were started for the benefit of the poor. The lack of information among the poor is the cause for this. Rich people who have knowledge pertaining the quality of medicine purchase the same from PMJ centres.
The Supreme Court has banned the manufacturing and sale of Fixed Dose Combination (FDC) medicines which contain 3 different compounds and can end up harming the consumer. Hence, PMJ centres sell medicines with a combination of only two permissible compounds. The PMJ centres in undivided DK have gained the faith of the consumers and dealers through its sale and purchase process – Dr| Anila, Jan Aushadhi Nodal Officer
