Prime Minister Narendra Modi asked Babita Rao, a housewife from Mysuru, to propagate the benefits of purchasing generic medicine at affordable costs from Jan Aushad Kendras through social media.
Ms. Rao was among the seven beneficiaries of Pradhan Mantri Bharatiya Janaushadi Pariyojana (PMBJP) chosen from across India to interact with the Prime Minister on the occasion of Janaushadi Diwas through video-conference on March 7.
When her turn to speak came, Ms. Rao said she had been purchasing medicine from the Jan Aushadhi Kendra in Udayagiri in Mysuru over the last four years and is ‘very satisfied’ with the quality and the cost of the medicine. She pointed out that her husband runs his own business and is earning around ₹15,000 per month.
After learning from a friend about the availability of generic medicine at a reduced cost at Jan Aushadi Kendras, her family of five members had managed to save a lot on the expenses on medication. Her in-laws need regular medication as they are diabetic, and suffer from cardiac ailments and blood pressure.
When asked by the Prime Minister if she was spreading the word about Jan Aushadi Kendras among others, she said she had informed her neighbours and friends.
Mr. Modi pointed out to Ms. Rao that Karnataka is a major force in Information Technology. He asked her to make use of the digital medium’s strength to create awareness about Jan Aushadi Kendras.
He asked her to take the initiative to share experiences of middle class families purchasing medicine from the Kendras through videos in English, Kannada and Hindi. He said the videos could be shared on social media platforms, like Instagram, Twitter and Facebook, so that so that it reached the younger generation and more middle class families were benefited from the generic medicine.
About 350 beneficiaries of Jan Aushadi Kendras in Mysuru, including HIV patients, pregnant women, cancer patients, renal patients on dialysis, participated in the video conference with the Prime Minister.
Apart from Ms. Rao, Mr. Modi interacted with other PMBJP beneficiaries including Hilda Anthony from Patna, Suresh Chand Behar from Bhubaneshwar, Urvashi Patel from Surat, Dr Shailesh Khandelwal from Raipur and Ashima Katyal from New Delhi.
Sayed Asif from Shivamogga in Karnataka was among the three recipients of Janaushadi Sarvashreshta award announced on the occasion for Jan Aushadi Kendra owners conducting the highest transactions. The two others were Sudhanva Gupta and Pankaj Kumar Jha.
Union Minister of State for Chemicals and Fertilisers Bhagwant Khuba, Karnataka’s Minister for Health K. Sudhakar, former Minister and MLA S.A. Ramdas, MLA L Nagendra and Mayor Sunanda Palanetra were among the dignitaries who participated in the event.
