New Delhi, Sep 12 : The Union government has relaxed the rules for opening Jan Aushadhi Kendras (JAKs) by rolling back the minimum-distance requirements in metropolitan and 'million-plus cities", according to a media report.

The easing of distance norms will help boost the outreach of the pharmacy chain, which aims to provide quality medicines to the people at affordable prices.

The report cited an internal document issued on September 10 by the Pharmaceuticals & Medical Devices Bureau of India (PMBI), the department responsible for implementing the scheme.

'With a view to enhancing public accessibility, equitable distribution, and wider outreach of Jan Aushadhi Kendras, especially in densely populated urban agglomerations, it has been decided to incorporate the following modifications in the extant guidelines concerning minimum-distance requirements in the scheme," the document read.

As per the document, 'there will be no requirement to maintain minimum distance between any two Jan Aushadhi Kendras in seven metropolitan cities -- Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, Chennai, Bengaluru, Hyderabad, and Ahmedabad".

In addition, relaxation will also apply to cities with a population of more than one million, based on the 2011 Census ' known as the 'Million-Plus Cities'. These cities will not be required to maintain a minimum distance, except in cases where a Jan Aushadhi Kendra has not completed a period of two years from the date of its opening, the report said.

The million-plus list includes 46 urban agglomerations including major centres like Pune (5.05 million), Surat (4.59 million), Jaipur (3.07 million), Kanpur (2.92 million), Lucknow (2.9 million), Nagpur (2.5 million), Ghaziabad (2.36 million), Indore (2.17 million), Coimbatore (2.15 million), and Kochi (2.12 million).

For smaller towns and other urban areas not covered under these categories, the existing norms remain in force, the report said.

From just 80 in 2014, a total of 16,912 JAKs have been established under the flagship scheme, the Pradhan Mantri Bhartiya Janaushadhi Pariyojana (PMBJP), till June 30. It made essential medicines more accessible to people and reduced the out-of-pocket expenditure. These government pharmacies provide generic medicines, which are available at lower prices but are equivalent to expensive branded drugs in quality and effectiveness.

/IANS