Lifesaving drugs, baby foods made available in Kashmir: J-K Admin on reports of medicine crisis

Amid reports about a shortage of medicines in Jammu and Kashmir, the administration on Sunday informed that the most of the chemist shops have remained open across the Valley, ensuring availability of all the essential and lifesaving drugs along with baby foods for the households in the region.

While 1,165 of the total 1,666 medicine shops were open in Srinagar, people in Kashmir had 65 per cent of the total 11,961 shops unlocked for them. Besides, all 376 notified and 62 lifesaving drugs worth Rs 23.81 crore were made available for both government and private retailers in the last 20 days. 3 persons were also deployed in Jammu and Chandigarh each for quick distribution of baby foods and medicines.

The administration said that there was scarcity of baby foods in the Valley for nearly two days. However, fresh stocks have just been delivered which will be sufficient for at least 3 weeks in the state. The average time of delivery for these orders varries between 14 and 18 hours and no case of over pricing has been received in the last 72 test check cases. The Nodal Officer for SDM East is, currently, coordinating supplies for the Valley, officials added.

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Asked about the reports of crisis, Jammu and Kashmir Governor Satya Pal Malik said,"There is no shortage of essential commodities and medicines in Kashmir, in fact, we delivered meat, vegetables and eggs to people's houses on Eid, your opinion will change in 10-15 days".

"In all the crises that happened in Kashmir in the past, at least 50 people used to die in the first week itself. Our attitude is such that there should be no loss of human lives," he said, adding that normalcy will be returned to the region as soon as possible.

Satya Pal Malik: In all the crises that happened in Kashmir in the past, at least 50 people used to die in the first week itself. Our attitude is such that there should be no loss of human lives. 10 din telephone nahi honge, nahi honge, lekin hum bahut jaldi sab wapas kar denge. https://t.co/QXCu1EEItu

— ANI (@ANI) August 25, 2019

Earlier, there were reports that people in the Valley have been facing acute problems as medical shops are running out of lifesaving medicines amid lockdown following the abrogation of Article 370 and bifurcation of Jammu and Kashmir on August 5. The shortage had also led to several number of deaths in the region, doctors told media.

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Life in the Valley has been badly affected in the last few weeks, as shops, business establishments and all markets remained shut, resulting into a crunch of essential commodities across several areas. All kinds of transport remained off the roads in parts of Kashmir even days after the government's move on Article 370.

The Centre had on August 5 announced abrogation of provisions of Article 370 and decided to bifurcate the state into Union territories - Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh - hours after Kashmir was placed under a total clampdown.