JAMMU, JANUARY 30: Financial Commissioner, Health and Medical Education, Atal Dulloo today said that establishment of adequate number of Pradhan Mantri Jan Aushadhi Kendra (PMJAK) and Affordable Medicines and Reliable Implants for Treatment (AMRIT) stores is priority of the government and steps are afoot for opening more such outlets across Jammu and Kashmir.
He was chairing a meeting to review the functioning of PMJAK and AMRIT stores, here at Civil Secretariat. Detailed presentations on the working and the progress of the PMJAK and AMRIT stores were given in the meeting.
AMRIT, an initiative of the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, is a chain of retail pharmacies in the country committed to reduce the cost of treatment on life threatening diseases.
The FC was informed that nine AMRIT stores are functional across Jammu and Kashmir and process is on to increase their number to 22 by March 2020.
The FC directed that Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) for opening four AMRIT stores in Jammu and two in Kashmir hospitals should be signed immediately. These stores are being set up under phase II at Chest Diseases Hospital, Psychiatric Hospital, Gandhi Nagar Hospital in Jammu city, besides one each at District Hospital Udhampur, and Handwara and G B pant hospital Srinagar.
Expressing satisfaction over the progress made so far, the FC asked the officers to work for improving upon the inventory and strike a close coordination so that the progress goes on smoothly. He assured the Medical Superintendents that they will get every kind of support needed for opening of such stores.
Regarding the PMJAK, it was given out in the meeting that 35 stores are fully operational in phase 1 and another 71 would be made functional by March 2020 under second phase.
The FC said that considerable progress has been made but a lot more needs to be done for improving facilities for patients in government hospitals. The FC said that these stores would have a great impact on the lives of people by providing them quality medicines at affordable prices.
The meeting was attended by Principal, Government Medical College, Jammu, Dr Sunanda Raina; Director New Medical Colleges, Dr Yashpal Sharma; Commissioner Food Safety, Vinod Sharma; Controller Drug, Lokita Khajuria and other officers. Officers from Kashmir division attended the meeting through video conferencing.
