Over 15000 Jan Aushadhi Kendras opened till last month under PMBJP scheme across country: Minister

Lack of availability of medicines to JAKs is not a systemic issue. For smooth supply and product availability at JAKs, an end-to-end IT-enabled supply chain system has been established. It comprises one central warehouse at Gurugram and four regional warehouses at Bengaluru, Guwahati, Chennai and Surat. Further, 36 distributors have been appointed across the country to strengthen the supply chain system. Availability of 400 fast-moving products is monitored regularly to ensure their availability, the minister informed.

According to Patel's statement, a minimum stocking mandate has been implemented for 200 medicines consisting of the 100 top-selling medicines in the scheme product basket and 100 fast-selling medicines in the market. Under the stocking mandate, the Jan Aushadhi Kendra owners become eligible for claiming incentive based on stocks of the said 200 medicines maintained by them. Thus, supply of medicines to JAKs is ensured through the system of warehouses and distributors and monitoring system and incentives are in place to encourage JAKs to stock the products that are more in demand. JAKs being run on an entrepreneurship model, the actual stocking of products is done by entrepreneurs based on demand for the same.

To safeguard against complaints about the quality of medicines sold from JAKs, stringent measures as specified below are in place to ensure that the medicines supplied through Jan Aushadhi Kendras meet standards:

1. Medicines are procured only from suppliers certified for World Health Organization – Good Manufacturing Practices (WHO-GMP).

2. Each batch of drugs supplied under the scheme is tested at laboratories accredited by the National Accreditation Board for Testing and Calibration Laboratories (NABL) and only after passing quality tests, medicines are dispatched to Jan Aushadhi Kendras.

3. Quality audit of the facilities of vendors is routinely done by the Pharmaceuticals and Medical Devices Bureau of India.

Jan Aushadhi Kendras (JAKs) opened till 28.2.2025