The Maharashtra Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is in the process of recruiting 95 drug inspectors soon. P R Uttarwar joint commissioner, Maha FDA informed that the Administration has already completed with the selection procedure and has begun further procedures. The new batch of drug inspectors will join the office in three months.
Uttarwar said that in three months all the 95 drug inspectors shall be given division wise training once they join and will be assigned the responsibilities across the state. During last 10 years there has been no recruitment of new drug inspectors in the state. There are 161 positions of drug inspectors in Maharashtra FDA but only 66 positions are filled till now. It is believed that Seema Vyas FDA commissioner has accelerated the recruitment process so that it will enable the agency to carry out its work effectively.
Vyas is the first women FDA commissioner of the state and is responsible for strengthening programs and policies of the state FDA. Maharashtra's FDA plays key a role in the manufacture and import of pharmaceuticals in India.
Uttarwar informs that 40 per cent of the drugs exported from India is contributed by Maharashtra and over 50 per cent of manufactured drugs in India are currently produced in Maharashtra. According to the latest statistics provided by the FDA's office Maharshtra has 755 manufacturing units that are GMP complied under the Drugs and Cosmetics Act, out of which 188 are world health organisation (WHO) complied. Uttarwar informed that Maharshtra has the least number of spurious drug cases reported in the state with only .02 per cent reported according to the WHO and Mashelkar report.