Chennai: After the Chief Minister J. Jayalalithaa inaugurated 16 new Amma Marunthagams (pharmacies) in eight districts of Tamil Nadu through video conferencing, the state government is planning to add 100 more pharmacies while allocating a budget of Rs 20 crore, official sources said.
According to the registrar of co-operative societies, Jayashree Muralidharan, 16 medical shops, set up at a cost of Rs 1.60 crore (Rs 10 lakh for each shop) in Coimbatore, Dindigul, Karur, Pudukottai, Sivaganga, Tiruvannamalai, Thoothukudi and Tiruchy districts and opened by the Chief Minister have started receiving patronage as the outlets sell medicines 15 per cent less than the maximum retail price (MRP).
“Already 84 Amma pharmacies were functioning in Tamil Nadu and with 16 more outlets, a total of 100 pharmacies are now functioning,” the official said. “By next year the state will open another 100 government run pharmacies selling only branded medicines. All the medical stores are equipped with cold storage facilities and skilled staff members and will compete with the private medical stores benefiting public”, the official added.
According to official sources the state is directly procuring certified drugs from pharmaceutical companies and for life saving drugs dealers with good background credentials are identified for continuous supply.
Adequate godowns are available with the co-operative department and pharmacists to run the new outlets will be outsourced. The existing staff of co-operative department will handle the logistics for Amma Pharmacies. The business is gradually picking in all the pharmacies and drugs and tablets worth over Rs 12 crore has been sold so far since last June, official sources said.
“It's a good move and there are very few state run pharmacies in Chennai and the government should open more outlets in north Chennai and labour dominated areas,” said Mr A. Sagayam, who resides in Vyasarpadi adding that the staff appointed in these outlets should be trained well to deal with customers.
