The state ministry Health and Family Welfare has sanctioned 50 posts of drug inspectors to be recruited on a contract basis. The expenditure towards payment of their salaries will be met from levying the user charges as per an order (G.O. Rt. No. 622) issued on 28-07-2004.

The State Government had issued a G.O. Ms. No. 3 on 06-01-2004 permitting levy of user charges for certain items (certificates) in Drugs Control Administration (DCA) and to utilise the such funds for strengthening its activities.

The Director General, Drugs & Copyright, DCA, Hyderabad, in his letter dated November 30,2002 and subsequently on July 26, 2003 had submitted proposals for strengthening the department based on the recommendations of Hathi Committee report of 1975 for sanction of various posts including two posts of joint directors, five posts of deputy directors, ten posts of assistant directors and fifty posts of drugs inspectors for strict implementation of Drugs & Cosmetics Act, 1940 and Rules 1945 by meeting the expenditure from user charges.

Subsequently, based on the cadre strength in the neighbouring states, the health department proposed to sanction only 50 posts of drug inspectors on contract basis. The present strength of 55 Drugs Inspectors are quite insufficient to perform the statutory functions under Drugs & Cosmetic Act, 1940, Drugs Price Control Orders, 1955 and Drugs & Magical Remedies Objectionable Advertisements Act.

Though the top officials in the AP DCA, who feel that the department could finally succeed adding more staff, senior officers in the department, are concerned about the accountability of the new recruits. They are of the opinion that it would be difficult for the department to get dedicated and quality personnel if selected on a contract basis. These drug inspectors, expected to serve the department for only three years, may not be loyal to the department as is the case with medical services. The inspectors taken on contract basis may not be required to report over a court case beyond his three year tenure so as to enable timely judgement.

According to Ravi Uday Bhaskar, president of All India Drug Control Officers' Confederation (AIDCOC), Visakhapatnam, the option of hiring staff on contract basis in regulatory agencies is not recommended. This is the first time in the country that any state drugs department has chosen to recruit drugs inspectors on contract basis. He said that even in a country like the US where a majority of recruitments in various fields are made on contract basis, the US FDA doesn't take inspectors on contract basis. The Drugs Department of West Bengal, which also wanted to strengthen its team, has chosen the right path by recruiting about 90 drugs inspectors on permanent basis through Public Service Commission route.

He opined, if at all AP DCA was concerned of strengthening the team, it should have done so by taking inspectors on permanent basis. AIDCOC had always been pleading the government to increase the staff of the department in the state, as there had been no recruitments for the last 12 years. But what has been done by AP DCA is not appropriate. Pharmabiz earlier reported on March 11, 2004 about the AIDCOC's representation to the health ministry to stop the decision. The Confederation is likely to seek legal advice to oppose this move for the benefit of the department.

T Seshagiri, president, Drugs Inspector's Association, Andhra Pradesh said that though the G.O. states that the user charges should be used to meet the expenditure on new recruits, it is not understood that the department cannot get enough user charges to meet these expenses. Each drugs inspector may be paid about Rs 10,000 every month (includes salary and other expenses), which will take the total expenses on 50 new inspectors to Rs 5 lakh every month.

He added, Mashelkar Committee in its report has stressed the need for recruiting new drug inspectors to strengthen the drugs department. Hathi Committee recommended that there should be a drug inspector for every 100 medical shops and every 25 pharma units. Taking this into account, AP DCA requires a total of 300 drugs inspectors, whereas it has only 55 permanent inspectors. Even with the proposed 50 inspectors to be recruited on contract basis, there will be a shortfall of 200 more inspectors. Each inspector currently handles 80-100 prosecutions and spends 15-20 days of a month merely in attending court cases.

The position of 'Drugs Inspector' is a statutory post to be appointed under Section 21 of the Drugs and Cosmetics Act, 1940 to enforce the legal provisions under the Act and to see that the offenders are properly brought under the clutches of law to enable the judicial courts to impose stringent punishments.