Coonoor MLA and Chief Whip of the Tamil Nadu Government, K. Ramachandran, said that 13 Mudhalvar Marundhagam (Chief Minister pharmacies) have been inaugurated in the Nilgiris by Chief Minister M.K.Stalin on Monday.
Mr. Ramachandran said that drugs sold at the pharmacies would be sold at discounted rates of between 20 to 90 %. He said the pharmacies had been inaugurated in Udhagamandalam at Hill Bunk, Charring Cross, Denadu Kombai, the Ooty Municipal Market and NCMS, as well as in Kotagiri, Gudalur and two locations in Pandalur. In Coonoor, the pharmacies had been opened in Ketti Palada, Selas and Santhoor, he added.
The Coonoor MLA said that the Chief Minister had come up with the scheme after it came to his notice that many poor and working class people were spending a significant portion of their monthly earning in buying medication for various ailments that they and their family members required. Even though medicines were being provided free of cost at government hospitals, he said that some people still depended on medication from private pharmacies.
