'People have saved around Rs 1,668 crore on medicines under PMBJP'

Union Minister Mansukh Mandaviya on Friday said people have saved around Rs 1,668 crore on medicine so far under the Pradhan Mantri Bhartiya Janaushadhi Pariyojana (PMBJP), a scheme which aims to provide quality medicines at affordable prices to the masses.

Mandaviya, while giving a written reply to a question in Rajya Sabha today, stated that unbranded generic medicines worth Rs 417 crores have been sold through PMBJP Kendras from inception of the scheme till the end of December 2018. This sale is roughly equivalent to sale of Rs 2,085 crores of the branded medicines. Thus, PMBJP has resulted in the saving of approximately Rs 1,668 crores to the citizens of country, he said.

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The Minister, who was replying during the Question Hour, said that in some cases, the price is fixed at such a low rate that it is 90 per cent below the maximum retail price (MRP) of corresponding branded medicines. As a result, quality generic medicines are made available to people of the country at a much cheaper rate than the prevalent market rate of branded medicines, he added.

Under PMBJP scheme, unbranded generic medicines of good quality are made available through outlets called PMBJP Kendras. The product basket of the scheme covers more than 800 medicines and 154 surgicals and consumables covering all 23 major therapeutic groups such as anti-infectives, anti-diabetics, cardiovasculars, anti-cancers, gastro-intestinal medicines, etc.

Informing that the number of PMBJP Kendras in the country has grown to more than 4,677 till the end of this year, Mandaviya noted that this scheme is providing a valuable source of self-employment with sustainable and regular earnings. The average monthly sales per store have grown to Rs. 1.50 lakh, as per a recent survey conducted by the Bureau of Pharma PSUs of India (BPPI).

Edited by Chitranjan Kumar