Govt’s Amrut Scheme to make 2,000 medicines cheaper by up to 90%

The government will make available nearly 2,000 medicines at rates 90 per cent lower than their maximum retail prices (MRP) under the Amrut Scheme, union minister of health J P Nadda has said.

"Two thousand medicines will be made available at 60 to 90 per cent less rates than the MRP," the minister said on Saturday while addressing the foundation stone laying ceremony of the proposed Super Specialty Block of Jabalpur Medical College.

This, he said, is part of the central government's efforts to make medicines and medical treatment affordable to the common people, adding that such retail stores would be opened in Madhya Pradesh also.

Nadda said the central government would provide all necessary assistance to the Madhya Pradesh government to improve the state's health care facilities.

The minister also said the construction of the super specialty block, being built at a cost of Rs150 crore, would help in making available quality medical facilities in the state.

He also announced setting up of a State Cancer Institute at a cost of Rs120 crore, a trauma centre and the establishment of Central Government Health Scheme (CGHS) dispensary in Jabalpore.

Speaking on the occasion, Madhya Pradesh chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan said after the construction of the super specialty block, the people of Jabalpur and nearby districts would not have to go outside the state for treatment.

"To provide better health services to the people is the biggest responsibility of any government. Up to Rs2 lakh has been entrusted to collectors under the Rajya Bimari Sahayata Scheme," Chouhan said.

Joint secretary of the Prime Minister Health Security Scheme Sunil Sharma said the construction work will be completed by December 2017 and the block will have a 206-bed capacity.

"The hospital will have six operation theatres, 30 ICU beds, eight private rooms and 18 dialysis beds," he added.