In next five years, govt to add nearly 4,000 PMBJK stores across India

New Delhi, Sep 18: The government is all set to add nearly 4,000 more Pradhan Mantri Bhartiya Janaushadhi Kendras (PMBJK), the public outlets offering medicines at subsidised prices, over the next five years.

According to a statement from the Union ministry of chemicals and fertilisers, the government, with a vision to provide quality medicines at affordable rates for the common man, especially the poor, has set a target to increase the number of PMBJK to 10,500 by March 2025.

At present, there are 6,606 PMBJK outlets, which sell subsidised generic medicines across the country.

The proposed new PMBJK outlets will cover all the 736 districts in the country, making affordable medicines accessible to everyone.

"This will ensure easy reach of affordable medicine to the public in every nook and corner of the country," the statement added.

It can be seen that the government is putting an expansion plan in place through effective information technology (IT)-enabled logistics and supply chain management for ensuring real-time distribution of medicines at all the outlets in a bid to avoid a scarcity of stocks.

Such a crisis had occurred during the 68-day nationwide lockdown restrictions that were enforced from March 25 in a bid to prevent the spread of the novel coronavirus outbreak.

Presently, PMBJK stocks are stored in four warehouses that are located in Gurugram, Chennai, Bengaluru and Guwahati. Plans are afoot to open two more warehouses in western and central India.