Ensure Greater Streamlining in the Medicine Procurement Process – CM Devendra Fadnavis

Mumbai : Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis has emphasized that bringing greater transparency and streamlining to the medicine procurement process will help eliminate shortages. He directed that both the Medical Education Department and the Public Health Department should adopt a unified e-drug computer system for the purchase of medicines, medical supplies, and equipment. The Chief Minister also instructed that a two-year rate contract should be fixed to ensure timely delivery of quality medicines at uniform rates.

These directives were given during a review meeting of the Maharashtra Medical Goods Procurement Authority held at Vidhan Bhavan. During the meeting, CM Fadnavis reviewed the authority’s operations and issued several important instructions.

The meeting was attended by Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar, Medical Education Minister Hasan Mushrif, Public Health and Family Welfare Minister Prakash Ambedkar, Minister of State for Finance and Planning Ashish Jaiswal, MoS for Public Health and Family Welfare Meghna Sakore-Bordikar, MoS for Food and Drug Administration Yogesh Kadam, Chief Secretary Rajesh Kumar, Additional Chief Secretary (Finance) O.P. Gupta, Principal Secretary Dr. K.H. Govind, Secretary for Public Health Dr. Nipun Vinayak, Secretary for Industries Dr. P. Anbalagan, Secretary for Medical Education and Drugs Dheeraj Kumar, Public Health Secretary Virendra Singh, Commissioner of Medical Education Anil Bhandari, and CEO of the Medical Goods Procurement Authority Mahesh Awhad, among others.

CM Fadnavis noted that nearly 70% of medicines procured annually are common items. He called for the preparation and submission of a unified procurement plan. He emphasized:

• Simultaneous procurement and distribution of medicines across all government hospitals
• Transparent tender processes
• Focus on quality
• District-level storage infrastructure
• Online demand submission of required medicines by each hospital

To ensure that more doctors are available in rural hospitals, the CM directed the immediate filling of vacant posts. He added that while 15 districts currently have medicine warehouses, the remaining 20 districts should also be equipped. For this, the availability of space in district government medical colleges should be assessed, or warehouses should be established through Public-Private Partnerships (PPP).

He also stressed that warehouses must have:

• Proper temperature and cold storage facilities
• Inventory management systems
• Quality control mechanisms

Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar suggested that procured medicines should have a minimum shelf life of two years, even though the manufacturing time is within a month. He also assured that adequate funds would be provided to ensure all medical services are available in rural areas.