New Delhi: Patients' rights groups have accused the Centre of trying to use a decade-old programme that delivers inexpensive medicines through government-supported retail outlets to promote the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).

The Jan Swasthya Abhiyan (JSA) and the All India Drug Action Network (AIDAN) on Monday expressed concern at what they said was the "misuse of the public-funded Pradhanmantri Bharatiya Janaushadhi Pariyojana for the promotion of one political party".

They said the NDA government had renamed the Jan Aushadhi scheme - launched by the Union chemicals and fertilisers ministry in November 2008 - first to Pradhan Mantri Janaushadhi Yojana and then to Pradhan Mantri Bharatiya Janaushadhi Pariyojana.

"Clearly, this was a blatant attempt to insert the acronym BJP into the name of the scheme," the JSA and the AIDAN said in a statement released on Monday.

They said the labels of the drugs dispensed through the scheme and its website highlight the letters "B, J and P" in saffron colour. In Hindi, the letters "Bha, Ja and Pa" are highlighted. In the heartland, the BJP is often referred to as "Bhajpa".

"This represents gross misuse of public funds and is a wilful disregard of Supreme Court directions on government advertisements," the JSA and the AIDAN said in their statement.

They have cited a Supreme Court ruling of March 2016 that held the use of public office and public funds for personal, political or partisan purposes as mala fide, illegal and not permissible under the Constitution.

This newspaper has sent queries to two senior officials associated with the Janaushadhi scheme, seeking their perspectives on the JSA-AIDAN concerns.

More than 3,000 Janaushadhi outlets across the country provide inexpensive or generic versions of over 640 medicines and over 120 surgical and consumable products. The Centre provides incentives to the outlets run by entrepreneurs, pharmacists and non-government and charitable institutions.

The JSA and the AIDAN have said the government can legitimately issue advertisements about welfare schemes but have questioned the ethics of projecting a particular political party through ads issued at public expense about government schemes.

"The drug labels and website highlighting the BJP's name in the Janaushadhi scheme is a gross misrepresentation as it conflates the achievements of the government with a particular political party," the JSA-AIDAN statement said. "Highlighting BJP's name in saffron colour gives the message that the BJP is involved in running the scheme."

The statement pointed out that the scheme's 3,000 outlets make up just 0.5 per cent of India's estimated 600,000 retail chemist outlets. "It would have been far more desirable if more energy had been expended in strengthening the scheme rather than in finding ways to make the scheme a part of the propaganda campaign of a particular political party," it said.