Indian Railways is currently in discussions with with online pharmacy services to enable doorstep delivery of medicines from its network of hospitals, according to officials. RailTel Corporation of India Limited plans to seek tenders in January 2025 for this initiative, with bidding based on discounts from retail medicine prices.
“This service can be extended to all government-owned hospitals if successful,” a senior official told ET, noting that discussions with the health ministry have taken place.
Indian Railways currently serves approximately 10 million beneficiaries through 129 hospitals and 586 health units, primarily catering to railway staff, retirees and their families.
“Beneficiaries need to physically come to railway hospitals and health units for treatment and getting medicines. Both these issues can be addressed through utilising eSanjeevani – India’s National Telemedicine Service – alongside home delivery of medicines,” the official explained.
The medicine delivery service is anticipated to function through RailTel’s Hospital Management Information System (HMIS), which currently facilitates appointment bookings, laboratory results access, and electronic medical records management.
The Comptroller and Auditor General reports that healthcare delivery at railway hospitals cost Rs 20,734 crore between 2017-22, with medicine purchases comprising 11% of this sum.
Healthcare represents 1-2% of Indian Railways’ yearly spending across revenue and capital expenditure.
The CAG report, presented to Parliament in August, highlighted opportunities for improving monitoring and internal controls in railway health services management.
The audit for FY22 also identified issues regarding drug quality procurement and timely laboratory result delivery.
