“Likely, the procurement process is still ongoing by the Central Purchasing Department,” said an official from one of the hospitals. Some of the medicines routinely prescribed to patients are unavailable at the hospitals as they are not included on the scheduled list of medicines and supplies. As a result, patients are required to purchase these medicines from private medical shops.

The proposed policy was intended to provide prescription-free healthcare to patients visiting BMC-run facilities by expanding the scheduled list from about 1,200 to 4,000 items. However, BMC had also received criticism for considering limiting it only to residents of Mumbai and not to those who visit the hospital from other parts, effectively creating two separate fee structures.

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Dr Sudhakar Shinde, additional municipal commissioner (health), said, “The tenders for 4,000 to 5,000 items have been closed and are now being scrutinised. There are 13 schedules, and it is not possible to implement the whole thing at once, so we will implement it schedule by schedule.” He added that the policy is expected to be rolled out in another couple of months.

Rs 500 cr
BMC’s allocation for the zero prescription policy