The Pradhan Mantri Bhartiya Janaushadhi Pariyojana (PMBJP) has seen significant growth, with a total of 15,057 Jan Aushadhi Kendras (JAKs) opened across the country as of February 28, according to a statement released by the Ministry of Chemicals and Fertilizers on Tuesday.
These Jan Aushadhi Kendras, spread across various States and Union Territories, aim to provide affordable generic medicines to the public. The initiative is designed to ensure that essential medicines are available at significantly lower prices, making healthcare more accessible to the masses.
The Ministry confirmed that there is no systemic issue regarding the availability of medicines at JAKs. To ensure a smooth supply chain, an end-to-end IT-enabled system has been implemented. This system includes one central warehouse located in Gurugram and four regional warehouses situated in Bengaluru, Guwahati, Chennai, and Surat. Additionally, 36 distributors have been appointed across the country to further bolster the supply chain.
The availability of 400 fast-moving products is regularly monitored to ensure that JAKs remain well-stocked. A minimum stocking mandate has also been introduced for 200 essential medicines, which includes the top 100 best-selling products under the scheme and 100 fast-selling medicines in the market. To encourage entrepreneurs who run JAKs to maintain an adequate supply of these products, incentives are provided based on their stock levels.
The Ministry has put in place strict quality control measures to ensure the safety and efficacy of the medicines available at JAKs. Only medicines procured from suppliers certified by the World Health Organization’s Good Manufacturing Practices (WHO-GMP) are supplied to the Kendras. Each batch of drugs is tested at laboratories accredited by the National Accreditation Board for Testing and Calibration Laboratories (NABL), and only after passing quality tests are they dispatched to JAKs. In addition, regular quality audits of vendor facilities are carried out by the Pharmaceuticals and Medical Devices Bureau of India (PMBI).
As per the data released, the states with the highest number of Jan Aushadhi Kendras include Uttar Pradesh with 2,658 outlets, Kerala with 1,528, Karnataka with 1,425, and Tamil Nadu with 1,363. The initiative continues to expand, making affordable medicines available to more people across India.
