Shastri Bhawan being razed, Capital’s first Jan Aushadhi Kendra has nowhere to go

In a corner of Shastri Bhawan in the heart of the Capital, a blue board announces Jan Aushadhi Kendra, the government’s generic drug store. The one-room store has shelves stacked with the most commonly used medicines: cough syrups, paracetamol and medicines for diabetes, cholesterol, hypertension and allergies.

Every day, employees of various ministries and labour hands from nearby construction sites walk in to buy medicines at affordable rates.

This is no ordinary store. Among the country’s earliest Jan Aushadhi Kendras and the first in Delhi, it opened its doors in 2009 when Ram Vilas Paswan, the then Union Minister of Chemicals and Fertilisers, came for its inauguration.

Seventeen years later, it is set to shut shop because the building is going to be demolished and the government is yet to allocate an alternate space for the store.

Under the Central Vista redevelopment plan, all ministries and departments in Shastri Bhawan had been asked to vacate the building by September.

“While the ministries and departments have already moved out from the building, we are yet to be allocated space for the store,” the Jan Aushadhi Kendra in-charge said.

“Unlike most Jan Aushadhi Stores now, which are run by private players, this one is entirely government-operated. The space and other costs such as electricity are borne by the Department of Pharmaceuticals (which runs the scheme and is under the Ministry of Chemicals and Fertilisers) and the employees are from Kendriya Bhandar,” the in-charge said.

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There is no other Jan Aushadhi Kendra in the vicinity – the nearest store is in Gole Market near the RML Hospital.

As the ministries and departments began leaving the premises, the store’s request for space elsewhere did not elicit a response.

The first request for allotment of alternative accommodation was made in January this year when store employees wrote to the Department of Pharmaceuticals. A reminder was sent in March and then again in July.

“It has been three months since the last letter but we have not received any communication yet. No alternative space has been allocated for the store,” the store in-charge said.

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Until 2014, there were only 80 such stores across the country. The scheme was modified and rebranded in 2015 and 2016, allowing private players to run the stores with medicines being procured by the government.

Under the modified scheme, it is for the owner of the store to find a suitable space. The store at Shastri Bhawan had been paying a nominal rent of Rupee 1 until now.

The Ministry of Chemicals and Fertilisers, sources said, had requested the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs to allot a suitable space to the store to ensure there is no disruption in service. According to MoHUA sources, the process for allotting space for the Jan Aushadi Kendra is ongoing.

Currently, there are more than 19,000 stores across the country, with at least one in each district. With large stocks purchased centrally, medicines sold at these stores are 50% to 80% cheaper than the branded medicines available in the open market.