Union Minister of State for Road Transport and Highways, Shipping and Chemicals and Fertilizers, Mansukh Lal Mandviya, presided over the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signing ceremony between the Union Government and the State Government of Uttar Pradesh for opening 1000 Pradhan Mantri Bhartiya Janaushadhi Pariyojana (PMBJP) Kendras in the State. The ceremony took place in the presence of Minister of Health of Uttar Pradesh Shri Siddharth Nath Singh and Minister of State for Health, Dr. Mahendra Singh, in Lucknow today. The Bureau of Pharma PSUs of India (BPPI), under Ministry of Chemicals and Fertilizers, signed the MoU on behalf of Government of India with State Agency for Comprehensive Health and Integrated Services (SACHIS) representing Government of Uttar Pradesh.
Addressing the media during the event, Shri Mandaviya said that according to the vision of Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi, Government’s priority under the PMBJP scheme is to provide quality medicines at affordable rates to the poor and marginalized sections of society. The Minister further said that the drugs available under this scheme meet the highest quality benchmarks and are made available by the Government at costs much less than their expensive branded counterparts. Cardiac stent costs have been reduced by almost 85%, which would benefit poor patients who could not afford them earlier, the Minister added.Shri Mandaviya informed that under the PMBJP scheme, more than 600 medicines and 150 surgical and other medical items are being made available at affordable rates at Janaushadhi Kendras opened across the country. The number of medicines available under the scheme would soon be increased to 1000. Government of India is also giving financial assistance of up to Rs. 2,50,000 to those who open the Kendras under the scheme, the Minister added.