State drugs body alleges corruption in FDA minister’s office, threatens stir

Mumbai: The Maharashtra State Chemists and Druggists Association (MSCDA) on Wednesday wrote a letter to chief minister Eknath Shinde stating that there is corruption in the office of the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) minister Sanjay Rathod.

The association alleged that the minister’s office demands a high amount of money for settling appeals and demanded an inquiry into the matter. The MSCDA has also warned that if the state government doesn’t set up an inquiry, then chemists and druggists will have to resort to a state-wide protest.

“Drug sellers across Maharashtra are upset with corruption in the office of the FDA minister. Dealers are often punished unduly by the FDA for minor mistakes. When the dealers appeal to the minister, then according to the rules, the minister has the authority to stay the order. However, the ministry delays deciding on it and even after contacting the minister’s office several times, no decisions are given. Due to this, many members of the association have to suffer heavy punishments,” states the letter by Anil Navandar, secretary of MSCDA.

“The staff members of the minister, like the personal assistants, officers on special duty and personal secretaries demand huge amounts of money from the drug dealers. The MSCDA had previously met with the deputy chief minister as well as Rathod and voiced the concerns. Even after that, complaints from the MSCDA members continue that corruption has increased. If the state government does not take the matter seriously, the MSDCA will have to protest against it and call for a strike,” further adds the letter.

However, Rathod denied the allegations and said they are ‘baseless and part of pressure tactics.’ “I hear appeals of chemists and druggists when action is taken on them. They don’t want to face action. There are about 7,000 such cases and around 3,000 licences have also been cancelled. They are selling medicines like grocery stores, so the government has to intervene. A Mantralaya officer also died due to a bogus injection,” said Rathod while speaking to mediapersons.

He added that MSCDA should cooperate with the FDA but instead, they are making allegations to avoid actions like suspension of licences. He added that his office would call them to Mantralaya next week, and he would talk to them.

Meanwhile, Thackeray faction MP Sanjay Raut demanded the resignation of Rathod, who previously was forced to resign from the post of forest minister during the MVA government after the controversial death of a girl in Pune.