The Government of Rajasthan has taken serious measures under the state healthcare program RGHs by temporarily closing 215 private pharmacies. These pharmacies had not been providing medicines to patients under this program for the past two months.
The largest number of actions was taken in Jaipur, where 39 pharmacies were affected. The RGHs program provides free medicines to government employees and their families, and many private pharmacies participate in its implementation across the state, supplying medications on behalf of the government.
However, recently, many of these pharmacies have shown negligence by failing to dispense necessary medicines to patients. Gayatri Rathore, the Chief Secretary of the Department of Medicine and Health, reported that the department constantly monitors this entire system.
Pharmacies that had not provided medicines for a long time were first given a chance to explain their position. Nevertheless, the operations of those pharmacies were suspended whose explanations were unsatisfactory or who failed to respond to the request for an explanation.
Rathore emphasized that this decision was made considering patient problems to maintain discipline in pharmacies and ensure strict adherence to the program's rules.
Dr. Nidhi Patel, an official representative of the RGHs project, presented statistics by district. After Jaipur, measures were taken in Alwar and Sikar with 20 pharmacies in each. In Bharatpur, Churu, and Dausa, 10 pharmacies were closed in each. Nine pharmacies were closed in Ajmer, and 8 in Junghunhun and Shriganganar. In Jodhpur and Kota, there were 7 pharmacies, while in Hanumangarh and Pali, there were 6.
Additionally, 5 pharmacies were closed in Baran and Kotputli-Bahror, and 4 in Digha, Hairatkhal-Tijara, and Tonk. In Didwana-Kuchaman, Nagaur, and Udaipur, there were 3 pharmacies, while 2 pharmacies were closed in Bhawra, Bhilwara, Bundi, Chittorgarh, Dhaulpur, Jaisalmer, Jalore, and Karauli. One pharmacy was closed in Balotra, Barmer, Bikaner, Jawalavada, Sawai Madhopur, and Sirohi.
It is worth noting that measures were also applied in Delhi and Gurugram outside of Rajasthan, where one pharmacy was closed in each city.
Dr. Nidhi Patel clarified that further actions will be determined after reviewing records and receiving explanations from these pharmacies in accordance with established rules. The department stated that the main goal of RGHs is the timely provision of necessary medicines to the respective beneficiaries, and any negligence or delay in this process will be treated very seriously.
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