The Centre will expand its campaign to ensure access to medicines for all by opening at least 40 more Jan Aushadhi generic stores before March this year and at least 100 stores in one year.

After opening the second such store at Shastri Bhavan in Delhi, Chemicals Minister Ram Vilas Paswan told newsmen that the target is to open generic stores in all the districts of the country by 2012 in four phases. He also said sales at the first store, opened at Amritsar in Punjab on November 25, were encouraging so far.

Many States governments have evinced keen interest to open stores and the Centre had already written to the State governments in this regard. Haryana government has agreed to open generic stores in each district and the first one will be open this month itself at Gurgaon.

Rajasthan government has also agreed to open flagship generic stores and the first one will be inaugurated by February 27, Pharma Department secretary Ashok Kumar said.

Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, Delhi, Maharashtra, UP, Assam and Chattisgarh also will be opening the stores soon. Punjab government will be opening the stores at Bhatinda, Jalandhar, Ludhiana, Patiala and Mohali by March, the minister said.

Paswan said he will soon be calling the meeting of State chief ministers and health secretaries to promote the generic stores and also to generate more prescriptions for unbranded generic drugs. Quality aspect of the medicines was being taken care well, he said.

The target is to make available 350 unbranded medicines in the stores, to be run by state governments, cooperatives and NGOs across the country. "10 tablets pack of ciprofloaxcin (250mg) is sold at Rs 10.40 against the market price of Rs 55. Likewise, nimesulide 100mg pack is available at the store for Rs 2.50 against the market rate of Rs 25,'' Paswan said, adding that still it did not incur loss to the manufacturers.