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Uttar Pradesh has moved far ahead in terms of establishing government's low cost, quality generic medicines retail stores Jan Aushadhi Kendras (JAKs) in the State, with more than 20 per cent of the total stores in the country being set up in the State.
According to data from the Union ministry of chemicals and fertilisers, out of a total of 16,912 JAKs established cumulatively till June 30, 2025, a total of 3,550 are established in Uttar Pradesh. Of this, almost 2,004 stores have been set up in the last five years.
Kerala, which has the second highest number of JAKs established in the country, has less than half of this at 1,629 pharmacies set up till the end of June. The State established almost 1,096 JAK outlets during the last five years.
Karnataka stood in the third place in terms of number of JAKs, with 1,480 outlets set up during the period. Out of this, 910 JAKs were set up in the last five years.
Tamil Nadu is the fourth and last State in the list, which has set up more than 1,000 JAKs. The state has reported 1,432 JAK outlets opened so far, out of which 934 were set up in the last five years.
Bihar, with a total of 900 JAKs, Gujarat (812), Odisha and West Bengal (753 each), and Maharashtra (723) follows the top list. However, some other States are yet to catch up to the trend in setting up affordable medicine stores.
For instance, the State of Himachal Pradesh has set up just 75 stores cumulatively so far, while Jharkhand has 163 stores. Telangana has so far set up around 203 stores, while Andhra Pradesh has 281 stores, Chhattisgarh has 316. Madhya Pradesh has 592 JAKs, Rajasthan has 545, and Punjab has 520 stores set up till the end of June, 2025.
Delhi leads the Union Territories with a total of 552 JAKs, followed by Jammu and Kashmir with 335 Kendras. Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu has set up 40 stores, and Puducherry has 33, while Andaman Nicobar Islands has nine stores, Ladakh has two, and Lakshadweep has a single JAK established so far.
Anupriya Patel, minister of state in the ministry of chemicals and fertilisers in the Parliament lately said that under the scheme, a total of 16,912 Jan Aushadhi Kendras have been opened till 30.6.2025, out of which 10,511 Kendras have been opened during the last five years.
As a result of the scheme, in the last 11 years, estimated savings of about Rs. 38,000 crore have accrued to citizens in comparison to the prices of branded medicines, she said.
Further, the scheme has provided self-employment to over 16,000 persons, including over 6,800 women entrepreneurs, she added.
Around 2,110 medicines and 315 surgicals, medical consumables and devices are under the scheme product basket, covering all major therapeutic groups, such as cardiovascular, anti-cancers, anti-diabetic, anti-infectives, anti-allergic and gastro-intestinal medicines and nutraceuticals.
Under the scheme, JAKs are opened across the country to provide medicines at rates that are about 50% to 80% cheaper than those of branded medicines.
All Jan Aushadhi Kendra owners are eligible for incentive at the rate of 20% of the monthly purchases made by them, subject to a monthly ceiling of Rs 20,000 and meeting certain conditions such as maintaining stock of specified medicines.
Any individual having D. Pharma or B. Pharma qualification either herself/himself or any individual or organisation who has employed a person with such qualification as a pharmacist for obtaining drug licence from the State Licensing Authority concerned is eligible to open a Jan Aushadhi Kendra.
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