WITH the absence of Assistant Drug Controller (ADC) office in Nagpur is making import of raw material required by pharma units in Vidarbha and Central India time consuming and unviable. The ADC office located far away at Mumbai delays the process of customs clearance and also adds significantly to cost of doing business and the trouble of having to frequently travel to Mumbai. An ADC office should be set up in Nagpur to help pharma units in Vidarbha and Central India. This was informed by Shivkumar Rao, President, Vidarbha Economic Development Council (VED). Shivkumar Rao further said that the office of Assistant Controller of Drugs acts as an infield office of Central Drugs Standards Control Organisation (CDSCO), which provides various manufacturing licences related to medical and pharmaceutical manufacturing units in the region. Currently the office is in Mumbai for Western Region, and all activities related to it have to be done there.

 

Varun Vijaywargi, Secretary General, VED, said that the objective of the drug regulatory system in the country is to ensure availability of safe, effective and quality drugs, cosmetics and medical devices based on scientific excellence and best possible regulatory practices. “The CDSCO has defined its mission as to safeguard and enhance the public health by assuring the safety, efficacy and quality of drugs, cosmetics and medical devices,” he added. CDSCO has six zonal offices situated at Mumbai, Ghaziabad, Kolkata, Chennai, Ahmedabad and Hyderabad and three sub-zonal offices at Bangalore, Chandigarh and Jammu. It’s headquarter is situated at New Delhi, he said.

 

Ajay Kathale, who is into logistic business said, “In Nagpur there are two major units manufacturing pharmaceuticals, who have generated employment for hundreds from the region.” Ganraj Rajgade owner of logistics business said, “With the advent of the office of the Assistant Controller of Drugs in Nagpur, many major giants of the industry will find it lucrative to set their plants in MIHAN-SEZ and adjoining industrial areas, thereby creating great employment opportunities for the deprived people of Vidarbha.” Ulhas Mohile, exporter said, “There are several pharmaceutical and chemical units in the Vidarbha region, which routinely import raw material. An Assistant Drug Controller office in Nagpur would mean this chunk of business coming here instead of having to go to the office in Mumbai.” “The ecosystem is totally conducive in Nagpur for setting up the ADC office with a full fledged facility in MIHAN and ICD,” Mohile suggested. VED therefore demands that the ADC office be set up in Nagpur at the earliest. VED has submitted the above proposal to Nitin Gadkari, Union Minister for Road Transport and Highways who has forwarded the same to Dr Bharti Pawar, Minister of State for Health and Family Welfare, Government of India, in the belief that she would look into VED’s plea and take appropriate action to its request and proposal.