Excelsior Correspondent
JAMMU, July 27: J&K National Panthers Party leader and former Minister Harshdev Singh today said that despite a Drug Policy having been formulated and announced in the State Legislature, the implementation of the same is yet to see the light of day.
In a press statement here Mr Singh said that the Drug policy was announced after a lot of hue and cry raised in the Assembly and outside regarding unabated distribution of spurious drugs which not only endangered human lives but also had claimed several precious lives. He said that the public pressure coupled with Govt of India directions had forced the State Govt to announce the Drug policy primarily aiming at checking the growth of spurious drugs and adulteration of brands, rationalizing the number of drug licenses and rationalizing the prices and availability of medicine to the common man at affordable prices.
He said that the Drug policy which provided for procurement of generic drugs has also not been implemented due to unholy nexus between the Department authorities and the national level Pharmaceutical companies. He regretted that the said companies were using all methods including ‘Kind and Cash’ to stop the implementation of the said policy in the State.
Expressing grave concern over the criminal involvement of the Govt functionaries in the unabated flow of spurious and substandard drugs in the market, the NPP leader said that the recent reports of Drug and Food Control Organization (DFCO) duly published by the said organization bore testimony to the said fact. He said that the DFCO’s report was alarming as it pointed out that in 2010-11, the number of spurious drugs was 21 which swelled to 138 during the year 2013-14. He said that with non enforcement of the drug policy there was every possibility of the number of spurious drugs having multiplied during 2014-15 and 2015-16 but the Health authorities had continued to maintain a studied silence on the issue.
Mr Singh regretted that despite the highly alarming and the anarchic state of affairs in the Health Deptt, the Minister concerned was busy in attachments, imposition of arbitrary fines and selective suspensions of lower rung officials of the Deptt deliriously oblivious of the acute mess prevalent in the Health sector.
Trending Now
E-Paper
Follow our WhatsApp channel