HT
The Union government will facilitate the setting up of one cooperative society in every village, which can now enter the retail pharma business and bridge healthcare gaps in rural India by dispensing inexpensive generic medicines, Union home and cooperation minister Amit Shah said on Monday.
India will have nearly 200,000 primary agricultural cooperative societies or PACS in the next five years, up from about 63,000 now, which will act as business centres and boost the rural economy, Shah said, launching a national conclave of cooperative societies with representatives from five states.
Shah said 241 PACS have so far opened Jan Aushadi Kendras, or state-backed generic drug stores, across the country that will “ensure rural poor and farmers avail the benefits of generic medicines at affordable rates”.
