Drug licensing authority’s post vacant for 3 months

The Food Safety and Drug Administration (FSDA) has been hit by a resource crunch. The regulator, whose job is to keep a watch and prevent manufacture and sale of adulterated food articles, spurious medicines, has been without a drug licencing authority/officer (DLA) in the state capital for the past three months.

And if sources are to be believed, this has not only brought the authority’s work to a grinding halt, but also caused inconvenience to those in pharmaceutical and medical business who have applied for licences or get their existing ones renewed.

“Lucknow division covers 13 districts and accounts for some 10,000 licensed wholesale and small retail medical shops. I have been running to get my drug licence renewed since April, but have been told to wait till a DLA is appointed by the government,” said Rajiv Kumar Sinha.

He said the previous officer (DLA) Anup Kumar retired in March. Ever since, the state government is yet to appoint his successor. “I met FSDA commissioner Kamini Ratan Chauhan. She told me that the process to appoint a new officer was underway and there was some delay because of an intra-depratmental agreement, which needed government approval,” said the officer.

Chauhan could not be contacted. Sources in the department said enforcement work, which included inspection and raids on medical shops, was being carried out from time to time but followup action was getting hampered in the absence of DLA.

Last year, the department cancelled licences of 2,490 medical stores/shops, 23 blood banks, lodged 67 FIRs and arrested 23 people during raids.

But it has no figures to show for the work done by it in the past three months.

INSPECTIONS AND RAIDS ON MEDICAL SHOPS WERE BEING CARRIED OUT FROM TIME TO TIME BUT FOLLOW UP ACTION WAS GETTING HAMPERED, SAID SOURCES