Around 35,000 retail and 20,000 wholesale chemist shops will remain closed for three days from today against the alleged harassment and exploitation by drug inspectors in the name of inspection.
The strike has have been called-off under the protection of Bihar chemist and druggist association.
As said by the President of Bihar chemist and druggist association, earlier it was decided that drugstore supplying emergency and life-saving drugs to government and private hospitals would remain close but later the decision was changed after receiving requests from various sections of society.
He further told that several wholesalers are threatened by health department authorities about either to keep their shops open or bear the consequences like license cancellation.
He said there are around 7,500 pharmacists and 35,000 drugstores in the state. Even if they produce 100% results, they ill be able to produce only 240 pharmacists every two years. Also it is also not possible for small shop owners to hire pharmacists on a minimum of Rs 10,000 monthly salary.
In spite of knowing about the scarcity of pharmacists, drugstore license is suspended during the inspection by inspectors. He further added that the government must decide to stop harassing drug retailers and wholesalers for lack of pharmacists.
The association president asks the state government to fulfill their three demands:
- Either to provide a pharmacist at each retail shop or let them continue with old ways where on pharmacists used to handle around 10 drugstores leading to huge scarcity of pharmacists in area.
- They want the state government to withdraw their decision in which the guidelines for inspecting a shop were described. According to them, if the license is granted under the Drugs and Cosmetics Act then inspection must be done according to its guidelines. The decision was taken on March 29, last year.
- The third demand is that drugstores should be given at least one chance to rectify technical errors like the difference in the size of signboard instead of the health department taking strict actions like license cancellation.
He want to tell the authorities that if they will pressurize them, then the strike made is extended to an infinite period. Also, they will shut down the emergency and life-saving drug supplying shops inside the hospitals.
He further said that state government should learn from Uttar Pradesh government which took initiative to train drugstore owners amid a scarcity of pharmacists and there are around 75,000 drugstores in UP.
He said the association is ready to bear all expense and would give a written undertaking for not demanding any job after training if the government take initiative to train the shop owners.
There is no authorized center of the health department to display the number of licenses that got canceled, suspended or restored on daily-basis. If the retailer from rural areas purchases medicines from Govind Mitra road then there is no way that the wholesaler would know whether the retailers’ license is canceled or not.
Bihar Chamber of Commerce and industries came to support the associations’ demands and requested the health minister Mangal Pandey and Sanjay kumar, Departments’ principal secretary to consider the demands so they can withdraw the strike.
They further added that chemists and druggists are a part of society and they need to be supported.
