CM praises Jan Aushadhi Scheme
By Our Staff Reporter
Dehradun, 7 Mar: Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami today announced that Cath labs will be established in all the medical colleges of the state that do not currently have these labs.
Speaking at a programme organised on the occasion of Jan Aushadhi Diwas here, today, the Chief Minister said that complete arrangements for MRI, CT Scan will be ensured in all medical colleges and, at the same time, all the vacancies of technicians will also be filled soon. The programme was hosted at the CM’s Residence here today.
On this occasion, the CM also honoured Dr Puneet Dhamija, who has done excellent work in the field of Jan Aushadhi during the year 2022-23. In addition, Mukul Agarwal, who did excellent work as a Jan Aushadhi Mitra, and Kusum Goyal, who did excellent work as a Jan Aushadhi Jyoti were also felicitated by the CM.
Dhami greeted the people of the state on the occasion of Jan Aushadhi Diwas and Holi. He observed it is very important to keep the body healthy and that it is the first duty of a person to protect the body and keep it healthy. He asserted that, earlier, people had to buy expensive medicines when they got sick. However, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has made it possible for the common person to buy high quality medicines at cheap rates due to the Jan Aushadhi Scheme which has been implemented across the country. The CM stated that the aim of the Prime Minister is to ensure that no person standing last in line is deprived of treatment. The central and state governments are fully committed to this goal. Today, the government is doing much more in the health sector than ever before. Under the Jan Aushadhi Yojana, the government is providing high quality medicines at low cost. So far, the price of more than 850 medicines has been controlled through this scheme. These Jan Aushadhi stores across the country are also providing sanitary pads to women for just Re 1, and this has improved the hygiene and the health of innumerable number of underprivileged women.
The Chief Minister said that the Jan Aushadhi Yojana has now become a powerful medium of, both, service and employment. Not only men but women have also benefited a lot from this scheme. There are more than one thousand Jan Aushadhi Kendras across the country, which are run only by women. This scheme also emphasises the self-reliance of women. This scheme is helping to provide affordable medicines to people living in the hills, in slums and tribal and backward regions, also. This scheme has also opened up a new dimension of possibilities in the Pharma sector. Today, the demand for ‘Made in India’ medicines and surgical equipment has increased and productivity has also increased due to increase in demand, which has created a large number of employment opportunities. He added that the scheme is gaining rapid popularity in the state and the country.
Expressing gratitude to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the Chief Minister said the ambitious Ayushman Bharat scheme is providing medical benefits to lakhs of people across the country. So far, 70 health and wellness centres have been established in the state with the help of the Government of India under the Ayushman Yojana. In all these 70 Health and Wellness Centres, all the services related to Yoga, Ayurveda, Panchakarma as well as facilities like Lab Testing and Jan Aushadhi Kendras have been added for the convenience of the general public.
The CM also claimed the state government is continuously working for the goal of Antyodaya. Under the Atal Ayushman Uttarakhand scheme, every family has been given security cover of up to Rs 5 lakh. He also asked the health department to review the scheme regularly.
Health Minister Dr Dhan Singh Rawat said that assistance of Rs 5 lakh is given by the government for opening Jan Aushadhi Kendras. These medical stores are playing an important role in providing better health facilities to the poor. The state has set the target of opening 400 Jan Aushadhi Kendras, and so far 225 Jan Aushadhi Kendras have already been opened. The Health Minister said that at least one Jan Aushadhi Kendra will be opened in all the 670 Nyaya Panchayats of the state on a cooperative basis. Continuous efforts are being made by the central and state government to improve the health sector. Under the leadership of Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami, the cabinet has decided to make arrangements for home education of more than 500 disabled children in the state. For this, the government is going to appoint 265 teachers. To connect 850 orphans of the state with the mainstream, 13 hostels are being built named after Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose, out of which 10 have been completed. In these hostels, arrangements have been made for free education and accommodation for orphans. One dialysis centre is running in every district. Institutional delivery has increased rapidly in the state.
Deepa Shah, who came to the Jan Aushadhi Day programme, said that earlier it used to cost her Rs 7000 to buy medicines for the treatment of paralysis, but she started getting this medicine from Jan Aushadhi Kendras for just Rs 1500.
Cabinet Minister Ganesh Joshi, Rajya Sabha MP Naresh Bansal, Dr Kalpana Saini, BJP State President Mahendra Bhatt, Mayor Sunil Uniyal Gama, MLA Khajan Das, Secretary, Health, Dr R Rajesh Kumar were among those present on the occasion.
