The Centre has called the state food and drugs administration (FDA) exceeding its codeine phosphate quota by three times in 2008 “very serious”.
“Firstly, it makes control over narcotic drugs in India ineffective. Secondly, it adversely affects India’s international image as a country which responsibly utilises narcotic drugs and which adheres to its international obligations,” said a letter dated July 30, 2009, from the central revenue department to the state health and family welfare department.
The letter sought the names of the officers responsible and asked if action against them had been taken. “As the department responsible to administer the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act, 1985, and to ensure that we meet our commitments under international conventions, I am extremely concerned about the development,” said the letter, by the central revenue department’s additional secretary Jose K Cyriac. It asked an inquiry report to be submitted by August 25 last year.
But the state government did not constitute any inquiry, forcing the central official to write reminders in August, September and October 2009.
Only in November did the state government wake up and ask the department of medical education to look into the matter. A source said the department sought a report from the FDA in March this year.
A Mumbai-based NGO, the Society for Awareness of Civil Rights, has written to prime minister Manmohan Singh, requesting an inquiry by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) into the matter.
“The then FDA commissioner Dhanraj Khamatkar, drugs controller SA Momin and assistant commissioner MG Kakatpure (now posted in Thane) are alleged to have allocated the excess quantity to the companies,” the NGO’s letter, signed by its president RPY Rao, says.
“There is a strong possibility that the clique is in league with manufacturers for national and international marketers for pecuniary gains, as codeine-based preparations are used for cough syrups and are largely used as intoxicants or hallucinating agents.
“There is also gross misuse of this drug, particularly in the north-eastern states.”
Questioned about the codeine phosphate over-allocation, Milind Mhaiskar, secretary, department of medical education and research, Maharashtra, told DNA: “I have asked for a detailed report from the FDA about the issue, and it is expected to be delivered soon.”
Comments