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Tussle between state govt and Ayush SLA in Kerala results in delay for granting & renewal of licences
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Peethaambaran Kunnathoor, Chennai
July 31 , 2017
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The turf battle between the Kerala government and the state licensing
authority (SLA) for Ayush systems is affecting the operations of the
department of Ayush and delays granting and renewal of licences, it is
learnt.
On May 12, the government removed the deputy drugs
controller in charge of SLA for Ayush from the position and the charge
was given to the state drugs controller. Taking the step as an unfair
treatment from the government, Dr. N Vimala, the SLA, approached the
High Court for a direction to the government for her reinstatement. The
case is pending with the court.
Meanwhile, the department of
health has conducted an interview for appointing new SLA, in which Dr.
Vimala was also a candidate. Since no judgment has come out from the
court yet, the government is unable to appoint a person to the post of
licensing authority. The result of the interview is also yet to come
out.
The situation has put the whole ayush industry into a
quandary as the department has stopped issuing any licence to
manufacturers. “The situation in the offices of the ayush department is
so pathetic now as we are not getting any licence. Government had
earlier stopped granting licences for proprietary drugs citing various
reasons. Now no SLA is there to issue renewals also. Attention of the
government is urgently required to address the problems of the
industry”, said a manufacturer from Kochi.
Regarding stopping
licence issue, the industry has responded that the decision taken by the
department to restrict grant of licences to manufacture proprietary and
patented drugs is discouraging, and it creates only problems to the
industry. All the manufacturers in the state have to depend on north
Indian states to get permission for production of new drugs based on
Indian systems.
According to Francis Paul Kandamkulathy, managing
director of Kandamkulathy Ayurveda Vaidyasala in Ernakulam district,
because of the unsupportive attitude of the ayush department, about 300
out of the total 650 ISM manufacturers have become mere marketers of
their innovated products. Only a few classical products are manufactured
in their well-equipped factories.
Francis alleges that since the
government bars licensing, the Ayush drug manufacturers are unable to
produce sufficient number of combination drugs. The situation is
exploited by big players from north India and the state is gradually
becoming a marketing hub for north Indian companies.
He said
licences for proprietary drugs are easily obtained from the Ayush
departments of Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat, Karnataka, Uttar Pradesh, Andhra
Pradesh and Telengana. It is easy to receive approvals and even
renewals within a period of 21 days from there, he added.
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