The government reaffirmed that state hospital doctors must prescribe only in-house generics. It cited this policy to justify closing Jan Aushadhi Kendras on hospital premises, calling their presence a contradiction
Published May 19, 2025 | 8:00 AM ⚊ Updated May 19, 2025 | 2:08 PM
Synopsis: The Karnataka government has ordered the closure of Jan Aushadhi Kendras within public hospital premises, citing policy violations. Permissions for existing and 31 pending centres will be revoked. The move impacts the state’s involvement in the Pradhan Mantri Jan Aushadhi Yojana, which offers discounted generic medicines, mainly to low-income groups
The Karnataka government has issued an order on 17 May to shut down Jan Aushadhi Kendras operating within government hospital ‘premises’, citing a violation of its policy that bars public hospitals from recommending or selling medicines from outside sources.
Permissions for Jan Aushadhi Kendras functioning within government hospital campuses will be revoked, and 31 pending applications for new such centres will be rejected, according to the order issued by the Health and Family Welfare Department on Saturday.
The decision affects the state’s participation in the central government’s Pradhan Mantri Jan Aushadhi Yojana (PMJAY), which provides affordable generic medicines at discounts of up to 90%, mainly catering to low-income groups. Currently, 207 Jan Aushadhi Kendras have been sanctioned in Karnataka, mostly within Primary Health Centres (PHCs).
“At present it is government policy to ensure that hospitals do not recommend patients to buy any medicines from outside. In this background opening of Jan Aushadhi medicine centers within the hospital premises is against the government policy,” the order stated.
The government has reiterated that doctors in state-run hospitals are prohibited from prescribing branded drugs or directing patients to external pharmacies. Instead, they must issue prescriptions in the name of generics, and only when such medicines are not available in-house.
The government said the presence of Jan Aushadhi Kendras within hospital campuses contradicts this principle. “Opening Jan Aushadhi Kendras in government hospital premises is against the government policy. For this reason, the state government has decided to close them,” the order reads.
Further, the Health Department has been directed to terminate existing contracts with Jan Aushadhi Kendras operating inside government hospital premises, in accordance with the terms of their MoUs.
Applications currently pending with the Commissionerate for approval of new centres have also been scrapped. “In view of the points outlined in the proposal, it has approved and ordered to stop allotment of Jan Aushadhi Kendras in government hospitals and accordingly reject 31 applications pending for approval in the Commissionerate,” the government stated.
However, the order clarified that Jan Aushadhi Kendras operating outside the premises of government hospitals can continue, as they do not fall under the purview of the Department of Health and Family Welfare.
The government has also suggested a new approach to ensure medicine affordability. KSMSCL (Karnataka State Medical Supplies Corporation Ltd), along with the Bureau of Pharma PSUs of India (BPPI)—the central nodal agency for Jan Aushadhi—has been advised to work out “special rates for the purchase of generic drugs.”
Alternatively, the government hospitals may procure generic medicines directly from BPPI and distribute them free of cost to patients.
(Edited by Ananya Rao)
