'Our Intent Is To Provie Quality Medicines At An Affordable Price'

Biplab Chatterjee, CEO, Bureau of Pharma PSUs of India (BPPI), shares his plans in scaling up the Pradhan Mantri Bhartiya Jan Aushadhi Pariyojana (PMBJP) and promoting generic medicines across the country. In an interaction with Prathiba Raju, he touches upon important aspects such as procurement methods, their strategy for expansion and consumer awareness

- Prathiba Raju

What is the intent of BPPI for Pradhan Mantri Bhartiya Jan Aushadhi Pariyojana (PMBJP)?

Pradhan Mantri Bhartiya Jan Aushadhi Pariyojana (PMBJP) is a noble mission introduced by the government in 2008. However, the scheme was not very successful due to many reasons. The number of stores which were over 200 went down to 89. Since some of the products were not available at the stores, there was trouble in supply chain as well and the programme was about to be closed. The government saw the intrinsic strength and modified the scheme, and now they are very keen for the scheme to succeed.

The Bureau of Pharma PSUs of India (BPPI) under the Department of Pharmaceuticals (DoP), Government of India, was made the implementing agency of PMBJP and the retail stores under the scheme was named Pradhan Mantri Bhartiya Jan Aushadhi Kendra (PMJAK) instead of Jan Aushadhi Stores. Our intent is to provide quality medicines at an affordable price for the citizens of the country. As of now, BPPI has opened 1014 stores and soon we would be touching 3000 stores.

How do you go about procuring generic drugs for the stores?

We procure products from three sources: the World Health Organisation’s (WHO) GMP-certified generic drug plants, Schedule M GMP-accredited organisations and the Central PSUs. Firstly, we look at the different data available in the market, then the formulations which are selling high, and next we examine on thousands of prescription data that is available and finally pick up our products. Once the product is sorted, we decide to procure and float tenders.