Jharkhand, which is lagging behind in terms of basic state-run-healthcare infrastructure, has taken a pioneering decision to roll out village medicine shops in each gram panchayat.

The state health department proposal, made on the suggestion of chief minister Hemant Soren, is likely to get a formal nod from him this month. It will see setting up of village medicine stores in each of the over 4,400 gram panchayats across the state.

“It would be the first of its kind in the entire country wherein medicine shops would be established in all the panchayats of the state. The shops would also provide telemedicine and tele consultancy services with support of state health department 104 helpline number,” confirmed additional chief secretary health Arun Kumar Singh.

The senior administrative official also added that this would end the essential drug problem in rural areas.

“They would be provided with a restricted licence to stock and sell essential drugs on the prescription of a registered medical practitioner. They will be in touch with nearest state-owned health infrastructure in rural areas in order to mitigate the requirement of any essential drugs,” said Arun Kumar Singh.

This apart it would also open job opportunities for educated youths in rural areas. They would be getting subsidies and loans through the Chief Minister Employment Guarantee Scheme of the state welfare department.

“There is not much requirement for an applicant as one needs to own a space (at least 10 sqm) for the outlet and needs to be an intermediate (in any stream) as educational qualification.

“The person applying for the shop would have the application ratified by the panchayat mukhiya, panchayat secretary, BDO and district drug inspector and sent for approval to competent authority. The youths getting restricted licence will also be trained by concerned district health officials at regular intervals,” said a source.

The step assumes significance in a state whose state-run healthcare infrastructure, which includes primary, community healthcare centres (CHC) and health sub centres (HSC), are way less than the required as per the Indian Public Health Standards (IPHS).

According to IPHS, a state needs to have one CHC for every 1.2 lakh population while a Primary Health Centre (PHC) is to be established for every 30,000 people. Meanwhile, HSCs are required to be opened for every 5,000 people.

“However, the compliance gap in Jharkhand is huge. As per state records (in 2021), Jharkhand has 188 sanctioned CHCs, of which 171 are functional. This is only 68 per cent of the total number required as per the population ratio. While Jharkhand needs a total of 1,096 PHCs to cater to a population of over 3.29 crore, the state has sanctioned a mere 330 PHCs across the state, of which 291 are functional. While Jharkhand has a total of 3,958 HSCs, it requires 6,580 as per IPHS standards,” said a senior health department official preferring anonymity.

Jharkhand is also battling a crisis of manpower with merely 2,800 doctors employed with the state health services (as on 2021).

While the figure rises to around 10,000 doctors when private practitioners are included, there is still a deficit of 22,900 as WHO mandates one doctor per 1,000 persons.