Availability of Essential Medicines under Government Schemes
The Ministry of Chemicals and Fertilizers, through the Pharmaceuticals & Medical Devices Bureau of India (PMBI), implements the Pradhan Mantri Bhartiya Janaushadhi Pariyojna (PMBJP) with continuous monitoring of medicine availability at Jan Aushadhi Kendras (JAKs) through an IT-enabled supply chain management system, regular stock position reviews, demand forecasting, and timely replenishment.
As of June 30, 2026, a total of 20,149 Jan Aushadhi Kendras have been opened across India, with 763 operating in Maharashtra state specifically. In Mumbai, the cumulative number of functioning JAKs has grown from 73 in FY 2023-24 to 105 as of June 30, 2026, with 11 new kendras opened in 2023-24, 10 in 2024-25, 16 in 2025-26, and 6 in the first quarter of 2026-27.
The PMBJP product basket contains 2,110 medicines and 315 surgicals, medical consumables, and devices covering all major therapeutic groups including cardiovascular, anti-cancer, anti-diabetic, anti-infectives, anti-allergic, gastro-intestinal medicines, and nutraceuticals. The scheme includes almost all generic medicines from the National List of Essential Medicines except lab reagents and vaccines.
An estimated 15 lakh citizens visit JAKs across the country daily, though separate beneficiary data for Mumbai is not maintained. Under the incentive structure, ₹0.53 crore has been disbursed to Mumbai-based JAKs over the last three financial years, including normal monthly purchase incentives and one-time special incentives for special category applicants.
Complementary Free Drugs Service Initiative
The Ministry of Health and Family Welfare operates the Free Drugs Service Initiative (FDSI) under the National Health Mission to reduce Out-of-Pocket Expenditure for patients. This provides financial support to States/UTs for free essential medicines in public health facilities based on their Programme Implementation Plans. The ministry has established facility-wise Essential Medicines Lists: 113 medicines for Sub Health Centre Ayushman Arogya Mandirs, 179 for Primary Health Centre Ayushman Arogya Mandirs, 301 for Community Health Centers, 318 for Sub-District Hospitals, and 381 for District Hospitals.
Support under FDSI extends to procurement, quality assurance, supply chain management, warehousing, prescription audit, grievance redressal, dissemination of Standard Treatment Guidelines, and establishment of the Drugs & Vaccine Distribution Management System (DVDMS) for real-time monitoring. A Central Dashboard has been developed for national-level supply chain monitoring, and Common Review Missions are conducted annually to assess implementation progress.
Supply Chain Assurance Measures
No specific shortages, supply-chain constraints, or operational challenges affecting medicine availability in Mumbai have been identified. The PMBI has implemented several measures to ensure uninterrupted supply: since September 2024, JAKs are incentivized to stock 200 commonly used medicines (100 top-selling scheme medicines and 100 fast-selling market medicines) with monthly incentives based on maintained stock levels; an end-to-end IT-enabled supply chain connects five warehouses and 42 distributors nationwide; and 400 fast-moving products are regularly monitored with continuous demand estimation and digitized procurement processes.