Has the BJP party taken over the Jan Aushadhi completely?
If renaming the Jan Aushadhi Scheme (2008) in 2015 to Pradhan Mantri Jan Aushadhi Yojana (PMJAY) was not a big enough change, it was later renamed as the Pradhan Mantri Bharatiya Janaushadhi Pariyojana (PMBJP).
Not only does the acronym point out to the party, but have the letters painted in saffron hue as well, literally.
Public health activists have criticised the government for using the Jan Aushadhi scheme to “advertise” the name of the Bharatiya Janata Party. All medicines being sold through this scheme across the country carry a logo that highlights the Hindi letters “Bha”, “Ja” and “Pa” in saffron in the scheme’s acronym.
Not only all medicines, even the website of the scheme carries this official logo. “A scheme run using government funds is being used to advertise the name of a particular party,” said Dr. Amit Sengupta of Jan Swasthya Abhiyan. “This is nothing but surrogate advertising for BJP with public money”.
The scheme is meant to provide affordable generic drugs to the poor at the special outlets. The drugs provided through the scheme, however, will have the scheme’s logo on it. What is disconcerting is that a government scheme is being used to promote a political party.
The scheme is being implemented through the Bureau of Pharma PSUs of India, under the Department of Pharmaceuticals. According to the scheme’s official website, as on March 15, 2018, 3,200-plus Janaushadhi stores were functional offering more than 700 drugs and 154 surgical & consumables. However, reports from the ground suggest problems of availability of drugs at these stores.
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