In a bid to improve the efficiency of the Central Drugs Standard Control Organisation (CDSCO), the vigilance cell attached to the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS) has issued a note to all officers with CDSCO to reduce the number of visitors to their offices. The directive has come after it was found that the grossly under-staffed CDSCO could hardly entertain the long list of visitors without compromising on the effective functioning of the department.

Apart from few senior CDSCO officials, nobody else can now allow visitors inside CDSCO offices.

While the government feels that the officers, give more time to attend their work, can clear more files, the pharmaceutical industry, whose representatives account for a major chunk of visitors, laments that the government move would slow down the clearance of their files. According to them, it's the regular and thorough follow up of their representatives that result in the timely clearance of files. If the industry representatives are denied their right to know the status of their files, it might even cause more delays, they fear.

They point out that instead of restricting the entry, the government should fill in the existing vacancies in CDSCO and bring in more transparency and accountability in the operations of CDSCO.

While the CDSCO officials were unavailable for comments, DGHS sources affirmed that the changes are being introduced to improve the functioning of the department. With the government bringing in a considerable increase in the registration fee for new drugs, CDSCO has turned a money-spinning department. However, the current staff strength is too less for the responsibilities it has to undertake.