Despite facing criticism from politicians, health activists, and researchers, it is unlikely that the BMC will extend its zero-prescription policy to anyone other than Mumbai residents. Dr Sudhakar Shinde, additional commissioner (health), BMC, told mid-day, “It is one thing to let people visit OPDs and take benefit of primary healthcare at the same rates or even in emergency cases. But people come here for surgical procedures. We are spending Rs 1,500 crore on this policy; let Mumbaikars alone benefit from it.”

The policy is packaged as the Chief Minister’s initiative, which, as the name suggests, aims to provide prescription-free healthcare to patients. This will be done by revising the scheduled list of medicines and adding commonly prescribed medicines that patients currently have to buy from private medical shops due to their unavailability in hospitals.