Urging people to buy affordable medicines from Janaushadhi Kendras, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday inaugurated the 7500th Janaushadhi Kendra at NEIGRIHMS, Shillong, through videoconference as part of his address on ‘Janaushadhi Diwas’ celebrations.

“You are my family and your ailments are ailments of my family members, that’s why I want all my countrymen to stay healthy. Janaushadhi scheme relieved the poor of high medical expenses,” said the Prime Minister while interacting with beneficiaries of Pradhan Mantri Bhartiya Janaushadhi Pariyojana. He added that due to affordability, patients were taking the required medicines leading to better health outcomes.

“Janaushadhi Yojana is becoming a big friend of poor and middle class families. It is becoming the medium of both service and employment. There were not even 100 centres in India six years ago and we hope to achieve the target of 10,000 centres. Poor and middle class families are saving about ₹3,600 crore every year on expensive medicines,” he said.

Adding that the scheme was promoting ‘Aatamnirbharta’ among women as more than 1,000 centres were being run by women, the Prime Minister remarked that in order to promote the scheme, incentive had been enhanced from ₹2.5 lakh to ₹5 lakh with additional incentive of ₹2 lakh for Dalit, Aadivasi women and people of the Northeast.

Mr. Modi noted that the demand for India made medicines and surgery had increased. “Production is also increasing to keep up with the increasing demand. A large number of employment opportunities are also being created. Now 75 AYUSH medicines are also available in Jan Aushadhi centres. Patients will benefit by getting AYUSH medicines at a reduced cost and the field of Ayurveda and AYUSH Medicine will also be benefited.”

Pointing out the enormous burden of medical treatment on the poor families, the Prime Minister said that in the recent years efforts were being made to remove all types of discrimination and treatment had been made accessible to every poor person of the country. For this, prices of essential medicines, heart stents, knee surgery related equipment had been reduced manifold. Ayushman Yojana had ensured free treatment up to ₹5 lakh, for the country’s more than 50 crore poor families. So far more than 1.5 crore people had taken advantage of it and saved about ₹30,000 crore.

Lauding the scientists for the Made in India coronavirus vaccine, he said today India had vaccines not only for local use but also for helping the world. He stressed that the government specially kept the interest of the poor and middle class in mind for vaccination. The vaccination was free in the government hospitals, and private hospitals were charging just ₹250 which is the lowest in the world.

The Prime Minister emphasised the need for having infrastructure for effective treatment and availability of quality medical staff. The government had started working on a holistic approach in extending the health infrastructure from primary hospitals in villages to tertiary hospitals and medical colleges such as AIIMS.

“The effort of the government is to make the treatment cheaper, accessible for everyone. With this thinking, policies and programmes are being made today. Pradhan Mantri Jan Aushadhi Project’s network is spreading rapidly and reaching those who need it the most,” Mr. Modi said.