Karnataka Congress govt to close Jan Aushadhi outlets
Karnataka and the Centre as the state health and medical education departments have decided to shut down Jan Aushadhi outlets in state government hospitals. This decision could add to the ongoing tensions between the state and Centre over various issues.
Jan Aushadhi outlets provide quality generic drugs at affordable rates under the Centre's Pradhan Mantri Jan Aushadhi scheme. Currently, these outlets operate at a limited number of government facilities, including KC General Hospital in Bengaluru. However, health department officials have indicated plans to close them soon. This decision might aggravate existing disputes over authority over HMT Ltd land, repairs of the Tungabhadra dam crest gate, and Karnataka's share of the devolution of taxes.
The Karnataka BJP has announced plans to launch an agitation in response to this decision. On the other hand, Congress functionaries argue that government hospitals offer medicines for free and that having Jan Aushadhi outlets on the premises could lead to corruption. Despite this, government officials clarified that they are not against Jan Aushadhi outlets located outside hospital premises.
BJP state president BY Vijayendra criticized the Congress government’s action, stating, «The state government’s move reflects the hate politics of Congress. Earlier, it dropped the scheme introduced by the BS Yediyurappa-led government to provide an additional grant of Rs 4,000 to farmers under the Centre’s Kisan Samman Yojana. Now, it is going all out to ban Jan Aushadhi outlets
