Working to build one medical college for every 3 Lok Sabha segments: PM

Aditi Tandon
Tribune News Service
New Delhi, March 7

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday said the government was working to build one medical college for every three Lok Sabha segments after accomplishing the task of expanding undergraduate and postgraduate medical seats to boost the national health human resource pool.

Addressing the Jan Aushadhi Divas event in virtual mode, the Prime Minister said India was stressing generic medicines for affordable and quality healthcare and the network of Jan Aushadhi centres which provide low-cost quality generic drugs had been expanded to 7500 stores. The latest store has been opened in Shillong.

After interacting with the beneficiaries of the government's generic medicine push, the PM noted that the Jan Aushadhi Centres had helped the poor save Rs 3,600 crore so far, on account of providing low-cost drugs.

“Money saved can be spent by families on better things of life,” he said after beneficiaries — Krishna from Himachal’s Theog; Rubina from Bhopal; and people related to the stores shared their experiences about saving money due to low-cost medicine supply through the stores many said were now known as “Modi ki dukaan.”

The PM stressed how the Jan Aushadhi Kendra network had expanded from 100 stores six years ago to 7,500 stores now.

He also said that past governments saw health from the prison of illness and treatment but the BJP government had adopted a holistic approach on health.

The PM lauded how Indian medicines including traditional medicines had acquired a worldwide reputation with whole grains regaining their pride of place in the food chain.

“There was a time when people though millets and whole grains are foods for the poor but that’s changing now. The UN has decided to declare 2023 the Year of the Millets. The world will celebrate the nutrition value of millets in 2023 and this will benefit the Indian small farmers the most because these farmers produce millets,” said the PM, asking people to get vaccinated with COVID jabs at the earliest opportunity.

The PM also said that the government would keep stressing generic medicines for quality and affordable health.

He also said the government had decided to add 75 Ayush drugs to the list of medicines being provided at Jan Aushadhi Kendras.

Join Whatsapp Channel of The Tribune for latest updates.