Avtar Bhat
JAMMU, Mar 26: With the spread of Coronavirus, a deadly epidemic which has taken a heavy toll across the world and the Union Government announcing a complete countrywide lockdown for 21 days from March 25, the masks, sanitizers and other essential medicines have become scarce in the market with people facing lot of difficulty in purchasing them.
As the advisories are being issued by the authorities as well as doctors to use masks and clean hands with sanitizers or hand wash etc, but much to the discomfiture of the people the masks, sanitizers and even the refill of hand washes are not available in the market.
According to sources many essential items have also gone out of stock in the market after the Coronavirus scare and people are facing acute shortage of the same. The sanitizers and the masks are not available on chemist shops. Even the Dettol antigermicidal is also not available and a consumer gets a bottle after hard efforts, sources added.
They said even some medicines are not available and consumers don’t get them easily. As there is total lockdown, the people can’t visit from one shop to another for purchase of medicines so the Government should ensure availability of the same every where, sources added.
Sources said even the grocery shops are not opened every where and some shopkeepers have downed the shutters of their establishments after running short of goods with the result people are facing difficulties in purchasing the essentials of daily use.
The people dealing with retail medical business said that they don’t get the supply from the medical agencies due to lockdown. However there is shortage of sanitizers and masks all over country as demand of the same has increased tremendously after the spread of COVID-19, they added.
“We have ordered some medicines a week back but have not received the supply till date’’, said an owner of a chemist shop. “The customers come to us for the medicine but we are unable to supply it to them as there is shortage of some medicines’’, he added.
He said that the delivery boys have stopped coming to the chemist shops to take orders and deliver medicines for a week now due to restrictions with the result “we face shortage of the same.”
Anil Gupta, Proprietor, Unique Enterprises dealing in wholesale business of medicines, said the stock is available with them but wholesalers can’t deliver the same to retailers as their delivery boys face problems because they are not allowed to move in the market by the police without the pass.
Gupta said that Pharmaceuticals Association had taken up the issue with the Government and it was decided that the letter head given by the agency to delivery boys will be considered as pass or I Card but on the ground police is not accepting the same and they don’t allow the delivery boys to move hence the supply of medicines to retailers has been hampered to a great extent.
He said Pharmaceutical companies and wholesalers can’t sell the medicines to the customer as directly they have to purchase the same from retailer and it is the Government which has to look into this problem. Either they should issue I Cards to the delivery boys or issue directives to police manning the roads to entertain the letter head of the companies as a valid pass and allow them to move freely, he added.
When contacted the Controller Drugs, Lotica Khajuria said the shortage of masks and sanitizers is all over country due to Coronavirus threat. She said that they have put a requisition for purchase of masks and sanitizers and are trying to over come the same.
Regarding shortage of medicines, she said that no such issue has been raised before her neither from chemists nor from wholesalers though Department takes meetings daily to take stock of the situation. “If there is shortage we can take up the issue with higher ups and seek approval for purchasing them from outside’’.
Moreover, the patients suffering from various chronic diseases are also perturbed for their treatment. The family members of a cancer patient who has undergone surgery at Cancer Institute of Mumbai recently are so perturbed as they have to take the patient for Chemotherapy to Narayana Hospital Katra which they are unable to do due to lockdown.
“We have to take the patient for therapy but due to lockdown we are unable to move as police will not allow us to leave without the pass’’, said one of the relatives of the patient.
Amarjit Singh a chemist at B.C. Road Rehari said “we appreciate the steps taken by the administration to fight COVID-19 at war footing and public is also cooperating.Though chemist shops are providing very good services but sorry to inform as soon as Government fixed the rate of sanitizers & masks it disappeared from the market, I request the administration to look into the matter & resolve the issue,” he added.
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