Drug Controller General of India, Dr Surinder Singh, has said that almost the entire backlog in applications for approval in different categories have been cleared already. He has assured to look into any particular pending cases if brought to his notice.
``There were lots of pending cases for the last seven months. We have cleared almost all of them. Only applications filed this month and some in the last month are pending now. I will clear the entire backlog and make it up-to-date within two weeks,'' Dr Singh responded to an earlier Pharmabiz report on the delay in clearing applications.
``Anyone can bring into my notice if clearance is getting delayed in any case after submitting complete application or if he is facing some problem from the office in this regard. I will take it up personally to sort it out. Anybody can send me a fax, if he is facing such delay,'' he assured.
A random scan by Pharmabiz through the dates on the applications kept in his office for clearance also showed that most of them were filed this month only, as the DCGI vowed to bring in transparency in the office and all the matters related to applications.
It may be noted that Pharmabiz had reported earlier about the complaints by industry players about the long delay in getting permissions in different cases including new drug category. They also had claimed that the cases were not being cleared by the DCGI on a daily basis.
Dr Singh, however, said that he would clear files every day and no file would remain unattended for more than two days even in the worst circumstances. The DCGI, who was not available for his response at that time on the issue, said he wanted first to set his own office in order and hence delayed a comment.
``After taking over in February, my first priority was to settle things in the office and streamline the working. With the extreme support of the staff, now the backlogs were cleared and better arrangements were made for accepting the applications. A senior officer himself is now available at the facilitation centre to scrutinize the applications and to answer the queries on requirements. It will avoid some correspondence seeking clarifications and replies and delay caused by it,'' Dr Singh added.