Jaipur: In 2018, the Narendra Modi government included subsidised bio-degradable sanitary napkins under its low-price generic medicines scheme, the Pradhan Mantri Bharatiya Janaushadhi Pariyojana.
One year later, the price of the “Janaushadhi suvidha sanitary napkins” was reduced from Rs 2.5 per piece to Re 1. However, reports suggested that the scheme could not meet with the growing demand of the sanitary napkins, with several outlets registering supply crunch. At some places, the fixed size in which these subsidised sanitary napkins were available caused issues.
While the success of the scheme is still up in the air, its acronym has come under criticism. The Pradhan Mantri Bharatiya Janaushadhi Pariyojana is abbreviated to PM-BJP, while its branding also highlights the letters ‘Bha Ja Pa’ in saffron. Both the name and the branding seem to promote the ruling Bhartiya Janta Party, better known as “Bhajapa” across the country.
PM BJP’s logo. Photo: Twitter
Products under the scheme, such as medicines and the sanitary napkins, contain the Bharatiya Janaushadhi Pariyojana’s logo, written in Hindi in navy blue colour while the prefixes ‘Bha Ja Pa’ are in saffron.
The scheme was originally launched by the UPA government in 2008, as the Jan Aushadhi Yojana (JAY). In 2015, the Modi government re-branded it and named it as the Pradhan Mantri Jan Aushadhi Yojana (PM-JAY). A year later, the name was again changed, this time to mirror the ruling party’s initials. The scheme is now called the Pradhan Mantri Bharatiya Janaushadhi Pariyojana.
After its rebranding as PM-BJP, the government has laid massive emphasis to ensure that the logo, which has to be used at five places at a Janaushadhi Kendra (outlet), perhaps to ensure that the beneficiaries do not miss out on the ‘Bha Ja Pa’ bit of the scheme.
The layout guidelines for the PM-BJP kendras include a signage that needs to have the name ‘Pradhan Mantri Bharatiya Janaushadhi Pariyojana Kendra’ in the centre, Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s photo in a saffron Kurta on the left and the logo of the scheme on the right.
Two drop-down banners with the logo of the scheme on each, along with a quote on health, and two separate posters of the logo are made mandatory for the PM-BJP kendras.
Guidelines for branding and layout of PM-BJP kendras.
Several lapses reported
While the Modi government has persistently credited itself for the UPA-initiated scheme, subsequent audits into the scheme reported several lapses between 2014-15 and 2016-17.
The Print reported in 2018 that the chief controller of accounts, an internal audit committee, had found misappropriation of funds in the PM-BJP. The report highlighted irregularities in the working of the Bureau of Pharma Public Sector Undertakings of India (BPPI), the implementing agency of the scheme, specifically, selling some medicines at a price higher than the market price, accepting medicines even after the prescribed time period from the date of manufacture had passed, favouring private firms and making unauthorised payments for opening up PM-BJP kendras in Punjab.
Further, the second audit report found lapses in its accounting policies, including not appointing a professional chartered accountant.
“The BPPI did not have an approved document, setting out its accounting policies…There were significant delays in posting of the vouchers in the books of accounts and updating of account records including related to the recording of purchases, sale, and inventory,” the audit report had stated.
It also mentioned that BPPI had not complied with paying gratuity to its employees, taxes and tax deducted at source (TDS) back to the government.
‘Not possible to calculate exact savings’
The Modi government had claimed in the Lok Sabha that 3,771 PM-BJP kendras were opened in 34 states/Union Territories between January 2015 and July 2018, which resulted in savings of around 50% to beneficiaries.
According to a Factly report, while the government’s claims on the numbers of stores that were opened holds true, there is no way to calculate the exact savings.
“The booklet detailing the list of the medicines and their price is available on the official website of the scheme. It also provides data on the maximum retail price of the medicines sold at the Jan Aushadi Kendras as compared to the rates in the market. However, the exact amount of saving could not be calculated,” reads the fact-checking report.
Another report in The Print suggests that the scheme is known to perform fairly well in states that are not governed by the BJP.
In 2019, the top five performing states under the scheme were Karnataka, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Gujarat and Uttar Pradesh. At that point, Karnataka was ruled by the Congress-Janata Dal (Secular) coalition. These states together contributed Rs 100 crore out of Rs 202 crore earned by the scheme.
Even the fastest-growing states under the scheme last year were West Bengal, Punjab and Bihar. Out of these three, only Bihar has the BJP as a coalition partner in Nitish Kumar’s government.