First model Jan Aushadhi store in country opens in city

Reported by Santosh Jagdev

Bhubaneswar, Feb 4:

To ensure the easy availability of high quality generic medicines to the people of Odisha, the Indian Red Cross Society (IRCS), Odisha State Branch (OSB), in partnership with the Ministry of Chemicals, opened a model Jan Aushadhi store in the city on Tuesday.

“Under the Jan Aushadhi campaign, which started in 2008, the Central government aims to open multiple stores in the state to provide quality generic medicines at affordable prices to the people, particularly the poor and disadvantaged,” said Union Minister of State for Chemicals & Fertilizers and Statistics Srikant Kumar Jena after inaugurating a maiden model store here.

On 6th March 2010, a store was opened at Red Cross Bhavan in Unit IX to act as a pharmacy outlet for the people of Bhubaneswar. As per the demands of the people, which has now been upgraded with better facilities and services to become the first model Jan Aushadhi outlet in the country, Jena said.

The model store, which will remain open 24 hours has a customer-friendly layout, where the customers can enter and look at all the products. This apart, the store is fully computerised with e-billing facility and IT-based management of stocks, the Minister said.

“We intend to open Jan Aushadhi model stores in every district headquarters in the next few months after witnessing the demand for generic medicines and its facilities by the people here. Besides, the project will provide jobs to young unemployed pharmacists to open model shops with 16-20 per cent margins on products. The young entrepreneurs have to spend Rs 4-5 lakh in opening a model store after signing an agreement with the Red Cross Society, which will provide incentives to these entrepreneurs who will later refund the money in instalment to the Red Cross,” the Union minister said.

Jena further said, “We have invited entrepreneurs to apply for opening of model stores in their respective district headquarters through advertisements in papers.”Jan Aushadhi medicines are significantly cheaper than their branded equivalents, but at par with them in efficacy and potency, he added.

Notably, the first non-model store was established in Amritsar in November 2008. Currently, around 80 Jan Aushadhi stores are operational in eight states across the country. These stores were operational at 19 District Headquarter Hospitals and Sub-divisional hospitals of the state.

Among others, Aradhana Johri, secretary department of Pharmaceuticals, Ministry of Chemicals and Fertilizers, Government of India and Mangala Prasad Mohanty, honorary secretary, IRCS-OSB also spoke on the occasion.