3 CM’s Pharmacy in Mylapore

BY OUR CORRESPONDENT

Three out of 1000 Mudalvar Marunthakam (Chief Ministers Pharmacy)

were opened in Mylapore last week offering discount up to 75 percent

in generic brand medicines.

Tamil Nadu chief minister M K Stalin inaugurated these low cost

pharmacies on Feb 24 and these pharmacies offer generic medicines at

cheaper costs than sold at other pharmacies

They also stock medical needs like first aid and basic medical

accessories, pain-killers, medicines to treat diabetes, blood pressure

and common ailments and diseases.

One is located at Pughs Road near Greenways Road, the second at

TNSC Bank complex near the famous Anjaneyar temple in Alwarpet and

the third at CIT Colony. The pharmacies are open from 10 am to 8 pm.

In a bid to ease the burden of healthcare costs of the people, Stalin

launched yet another populist scheme ‘Mudhalvar Marundhagams’

(chief minister's pharmacies) across the state. The 1,000 pharmacies

launched will sell generic medicines with subsidized rates and up to 75

per cent discount. 

Established by the cooperation department, these 1000 pharmacies will

be the first phase of the 'Mudhalvar Marunthakam' scheme. Stalin said

that his government was committed to delivering the “good” for the

people of the state despite a “financial crunch”, noting that his

government is pushing forward the welfare schemes “without getting

bothered by the restrictions” by the Centre by not allocating funds. 

“This government would implement ‘Mudhalvar Marundhagams’ to

provide generic and other medicines to the people at subsidized rates.

In 48 hours, we can also make medicines available on request from

other centers,” Stalin said while launching the scheme. 

The new welfare scheme modeled on the lines of Amma pharmacies,

launched by Jayalalithaa during her 2011-2016 regime, was first

announced by Stalin during his Independence Day speech on August 15,

2024

The idea of the scheme was to make crucial and essential medicines

more “affordable, particularly for middle-class patients seeking

treatment at private hospitals.”

In the first phase, 500 pharmacies will be run by the cooperative

department while the rest will be run by entrepreneurs who are

qualified pharmacists

As part of the scheme, the state government will give subsidies of up to

Rs 3 lakh to support pharmacists and societies in setting up the

'Mudhalvar Marundhagams'. The scheme also offers employment for

1,000 graduates in pharmacy initiatives.

With just a year for the assembly elections, the DMK has been riding

high on the populist schemes. And the CM pharmacy scheme is an

initiative to support education and health which Stalin has always been

calling as “crucial” for development

This again is in line with several welfare schemes like the free bus ride

for women, the 1,000 rupees cash dole for women and the cash dole

for students called the 'Naan Mudhalvan' scheme.