The government of Andhra Pradesh has appointed M Kodandaram as the director of Drugs Control Administration of the State.
From August 1 this year, he has been acting as the ‘in-charge director' of the drugs control administration after the retirement of R Ranga Rao on July 31. On October 28, he was elevated from the post of joint director to the position of director. An official with more than 30 years of experience in the department, Kodandaram has initiated several prosecutions against malpractices in the industry, informed sources said.
While speaking to Pharmabiz the new director said the state drugs control department is very strong and the state government is taking all measures to fill up the vacancies in the department including drug inspectors. “The Government has already decided to fill up the vacancies and the procedures are going on. Within a period of five to six months, the manpower shortage will be solved,” he said.
Regarding CoPP issue, Kodandaram said there was no stop-gap for issuing the certificates from his office because soon after the order of the DCGI came on October 1, the Madras High Court had stayed it. In respect of the CDSCO Hyderabad office’s claim of having issued more than ten Certificates within 20 days of the DCGI order, the director said he did not know anything about it. He said his office has never stopped issuing CoPP.
He commented that the Certificate of Pharmaceutical Products is not a statutory declaration, but helps only for the betterment of business. The state regulatory authorities have been issuing it for long.