POORS ARE NOT GETTING BENEFITS OF PRADHAN MANTRI JAN AUSHADHI YOJANA DUE TO NEGLIGENCE OF DOCTORS

POORS ARE NOT GETTING BENEFITS OF PRADHAN MANTRI JAN AUSHADHI YOJANA DUE TO NEGLIGENCE OF DOCTORS

17-JULY-ENG 5

RAJIV NAYAN AGRAWAL

ARA-----------------------------Ambitious scheme of the Prime Minister to prove the poor patients medicines at cheap rate proved a white elephant in Bhojpur district due to negligence of doctors. The poor patients are getting benefits of the Prdhan Mantri Bharatiya Jan Aushadhi Yojana as the medicines are not available in any hospital in Bhojpur district and English medicines are being sold instead of generic medicines.

Under the scheme, where cheap generic medicines were to be made available to the patients but the costly English medicines are being sold and the patients are not getting any benefit from the project.

The plan has completely deviated from its goal. Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced the scheme on July 1, 2025 so that the patients who cannot afford expensive medicines can get cheap medicines. While launching the scheme, he had requested the doctors to prescribe generic medicines for the patients.

In any way, government hospitals including the Sadar Hospital, generic medicines are not being prescribed to the patients. Doctors prescribe only expensive English medicines to the patients on the plea that they are not much beneficial. In such a situation, the patients especially the poor patients have to go through financial crisis by buying expensive English medicines. They are worried that due to the arbitrariness of the doctors, the government schemes are not succeeding and the patients are forced to follow the instructions.

Only branded companies make generic medicines and the only difference is that they do not have the brand name on them but their quality is in no way inferior to the branded ones. Companies do not deliberately promote generic medicines like branded medicines. People said that the branded medicine companies grease palms of the doctors with lucrative offers and pursue them to prescribe the medicines of their companies and the doctors get plump at the cost of the branded medicine companies. Urged by greed, the doctors prefer to prescribe costly English medicines instead of generic medicines.

At least one Jan Aushadhi Centres are open in all the Primary Health Centres, Referral Hospitals, Additional Health Centres in 14 blocks of Bhojpur district including the Ara Sadar Hospital

Patients get generic medicines at the Pridhan Mantri Jan Aushadhi Kendras at 5 to 10 times cheaper than branded medicines. This is a great benefit to the patients especially the poor patients.

Dr. Amit Kumar said that the price of Glycive brand medicine for blood cancer is Rs. 11,400 per montsh whereas the monthly cost of other brand of Vinet medicine will be Rs. 1,14,400. Generic medicines are cheaper due to government interference in pricing.

The government has provided 733 types of medicines for the convenience of the patients at the Pradan Mantri Jan Aushadhi Kendra but till not there are not more than a hundred types of medicines available at any centre due to which the patients are harried lot. They keep wandering for the medicines.

For the treatment of a disease, after all kinds of research, a chemical (salt) is prepared and it is given the form of medicines. The generic name of the salt is determined by a special committee according to the composition of SALT and the disease. This generic name of any salt remains the same all over the world.

When contacted, the Civil Surgeon said that it is necessary to provide affordable medicines to the patients so that they do not have to face financial difficulties. This will be investigated and action will also be taken as per the rules.