By Nivedita Singh
New Delhi, Aug 3 (IANS) The 'Jan Aushadhi' scheme launched in 2008 by the UPA government to sell low-cost generic medicines was re-branded twice by the Modi government in the last three years. Now the advertising and marketing of the flagship programme for the poor has taken a complete saffron and BJP hue -- literally.
The saffron-hued logo of the scheme -- with Bha Ja Pa in Devanagari, also the short form for the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in Hindi -- stands out starkly.
It can be seen on the website of the rebranded Pradhan Mantri Bhartiya Janaushadhi Pariyojana (PMBJP) and packaging of the medicines sold at special outlets under the flagship programme of the Ministry of Chemicals and Fertilizers.
Earlier the packages carried the logo of the medicine manufacture -- Bureau of Pharma PSUs of India (BPPI) established in December 2008.
"The packaging till last few months was not like this. Now it includes Bha Ja Pa in saffron colour," said a store owner selling generic medicines under the Pradhan Mantri Bhartiya Jan Aushadhi Pariyojana (PMBJP).
The scheme, originally launched as 'Jan Aushadhi' in 2008, was renamed in 2015 to Pradhan Mantri Jan Aushadhi Yojana by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Later in 2016, the scheme was again renamed to Pradhan Mantri Bhartiya Janaushadhi Pariyojana (PMBJP).
Earlier, when the name of the scheme was changed, its packaging remained the same. However, medicines sold under the scheme at specialised outlets come in new packages that has saffron writ large on its logo.
IANS visited some PMBJP stores in Delhi and NCR to check packages of the medicines manufactured in 2016, 2017 and 2018.
Those manufactured before January 2018 had the original logo of the scheme with only 'Jan Aushadhi -- Quality Medicines at Affordable Prices for All' written on the packs.
But the medicines manufactured after January 2018 have the new logo and colour on their packages.
The scheme was launched to make quality medicine accessible to all at an affordable price.
The medicines are available at a 'Jan Aushadhi Medical Store', whose name has also changed to Pradhan Mantri Bhartiya Janaushadhi Kendra with a photo of Modi and the new logo.
(Nivedita Singh can be contacted at nivedita.singh@ians.in)
