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Ludhiana: Ayurveda department asks regular dispensaries to return meds
The department after a long hiatus had procured a tranche of 73 medicines worth ₹6.5 crore in November last year and distributed them to the 507 regular dispensaries it runs across the state
After doctors from the National Health Mission (NHM) raised the issue of not getting Ayurvedic medicines in dispensaries, the state Ayurveda department has asked officials at its regular health centres to return 25-50% of medicines, so that the same could be given to the NHM-run dispensaries.
The department after a long hiatus had procured a tranche of 73 medicines worth ₹6.5 crore in November last year and distributed them to the 507 regular dispensaries it runs across the state. Ludhiana has 41 regular dispensaries and 23 under the NHM.
The procurement process was stuck due to a case pending in the Punjab and Haryana high court since 2015. The procurement had given a new lease of life to the dispensaries struggling with shortage of medicines.
There are 282 NHM dispensaries, with only 181 of them functional. The rest 101 health centres do not have any staff. The dispensaries were left out by the department during the distribution of the medicines.
This, according to Dr Wahid Mohammed, president of the NHM union’s state chapter, led all the doctors to write to the department, demanding their due from the tranche.
Correcting the course, the department in late January ordered all of their dispensaries without Ayurvedic medical officers (AMO-doctor) to send back 25% to 50% of the medicines that were given to them.
Even though the deadline for returning the medicines was February 5, officials in the department said that the process will take at least a couple of weeks, adding that the return of the medicines had already begun.
“Our procurement process had been stuck for a long period and now that it was restarted, it needed time to streamline things,” Ravi Dumra, director, Ayurveda department, Punjab, said.
“Our aim is to provide the medicines wherever required and we are doing so with all the resources at our disposal,” he said.
He said the department had already placed one more order for another tranche of 38 medicines for around ₹2 crore on January 17 and they are expecting delivery within 60 days.
