Success may become ever more elusive for the Department of Pharmaceuticals (DoP) in their efforts to establish an all-pervasive presence for the rejuvenated Pradhan Mantri Jan Aushadhi Scheme as it is unlikely to draw attention and support from the pharmacist community, trade and manufacturing units, it is learnt.

Further it is learnt that there is disinclination from the doctors and hospital managements towards promoting generic products through JAS stores though they are supportive for reduction in prices for quality drugs.

It is alleged that mushrooming of JAS stores in the country will not help much for the patient community, but will erode all pervasive and established drug distribution system of the country, which is the strong foundation for the healthcare system of India. The drug distribution system in India is smoothly run by licensed chemists and druggists and their business is regulated by government itself.

“Though JAS is designed with good intention but its positive effects should not  harm the established retail business of medicines by qualified and licensed pharmacists in India. It is the responsibility of the government at the centre to not cause disruption in the on-going drug trade, but it can bring in more programs and projects for the welfare of the common man”, commented a senior trader and social worker in Chennai.

Today seventy per cent of ten lakhs medical stores in the country are run by qualified pharmacists as self-employed by investing money and they render services for the patient community. Medicines are made available 24 hours in their stores and all of them are quality ensured branded drugs. Even for their services or for procurement of medicines, no support is given to them by the government. As self-employment and as service to the humanity, the chemists and druggists in the country are running their stores, commented Kovai Kasiram, managing director of Success Pharma in Coimbatore.

According to him, the drugs supply for the hundred and thirty crores people in the country is mainly depended on the drug manufacturing companies in the private sector. These companies invest in  research and development (R&D) for developing new molecules and that is why India is able to develop new drugs. No pharma PSUs like IDPL or BCPL has developed any new molecule and all of such companies have proven failure in their operations resulting into closure. The government must help the entrepreneurs with full support and its new schemes should not be a hurdle for the already established system, said Kasiraman, who is also an EC member of the AIOCD.

The senior vice-president of the All India Organisation of Chemists and Druggists, AN Mohan, said the Jan Aushadhi Scheme will not fetch the desired result. The government, instead of helping the small scale traders and manufacturing units, they are destroying the self-employed pharmacists and their employment opportunities. A manufacturing company, besides producing medicines, they are giving employments to several people.

The chairman of Tamil Nadu Pharmacist Awareness Organization, Tamil Venden, said no member of his organisation will apply for starting JAS stores in the state.