Vikash Sharma

Taking note of the sale of fake medicines in Cuttack, the Odisha Chemist and Druggist Association has decided to adopt stricter norms. The Association has decided to clamp restrictions on the procurement of medicines from other parts of the country.

The traders and others in the business will be ousted from the association if they procure medicines from firms from outside the state instead of carrying out the deals through super stockists or C & F agents. The association claims that such a decision has been taken to bring in more transparency in the entire process of procurement of drugs in the state.

“As part of our social responsibility, we have decided to do all the tradings through authorised stockists and C & F agents. Only through appropriate channels, we want to procure drugs. If anybody violates, our association will take necessary action against them,” said Prashant Mohapatra, general secretary of, Utkal Chemist and Druggist Association.

However, many traders have said that such a decision will not yield desired results as there are several life-saving drugs that are manufactured in other parts of the country, and there are no authorised stockists here in the state.

The decision of the association comes in the wake of the sale of fake medicines in Cuttack. Subsequently, two persons- Rahul Kyal and Sanjay Jalan were arrested by Purighat police in September in connection with the alleged sale of fake hypertension medicines.

The Commissionerate Police had subsequently nabbed two more persons- Alok Kumar Mishra and Harish Kumar from Bihar on the charges of supplying spurious blood pressure medicines

(Reported by Debasish Mohanty and Gautam Panda in Cuttack)

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