Move to close Jan Aushad centres in government hospitals in Karnataka irks MLC A.H. Vishwanath

He accused the State Government of closing Jan Aushad centres, which are part of the Pradhan Mantri Bharatiya Jan Aushadi Pariyojana of the government of India, as they feature a photograph of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

MLC A. H. Vishwanath has criticised the State Government’s reported move to close down Jan Aushad centres operating in government-run hospitals in Karnataka.

Addressing a press conference in Mysuru on May 26, Mr. Vishwanath said the Jan Aushad centres are helping a large number of poor patients by ensuring medicine at affordable rates. Any move to close them down will hit the poor patients hard, the former Minister said.

He accused the State Government of closing Jan Aushad centres, which are part of the Pradhan Mantri Bharatiya Jan Aushadi Pariyojana of the government of India, as they feature a photograph of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. “Is it fair to close them down because they have the photograph of the Prime Minister? Tomorrow, if Rahul Gandhi becomes the Prime Minister, will you have it removed?”

Mr. Vishwanath referred to the resurgence of COVID-19 cases, with three persons from Mysuru testing positive, and called upon the government to take all necessary steps in this regard.

As a large number of people had suffered on account of coronavirus, the MLC asked Chief Minister Siddaramaiah to direct all the Ministers in charge of districts to personally visit district hospitals to ensure there are enough beds and medicine to tackle the disease.

He advised the State Government to ensure that sufficient oxygen cylinders are available, and pointed out that about 30 people had died due to lack of oxygen in Chamarajanagar during the pandemic.

Mr Vishwanath targeted Mr. Siddaramaiah for skipping the NITI Aayog meeting convened by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in New Delhi.