The Drug Controller General of India (DCGI) will soon put in place a multi-level complaint redress mechanism including a grievances box to be manned and opened personally, in a bid to mitigate the irritants of the industry players to the best possible extent.

As part of streamlining the functions vis-à-vis addressing the grievances of the industry, a senior official will be designated to handle the queries and problems every day for a greater time and if needed a whole day in a week. Time-frames for clearing of each application will be fixed and displayed so that applicants can seek justification for delays. ``If still there is any complaint about the delay in clearance or anything else, and was not addressed at different levels, anyone can drop the complaint in the grievances box which will be placed soon in the FDA Bhavan. I will personally open and address the problem listed in it,'' DCGI Dr Surinder Singh informed a gathering of manufacturers recently.

He also assured the industry that they would be consulted through regular workshops before making any major decision on key areas like clinical trials and would meet the representatives of the companies once a month to personally to take the feedbacks.

He also disclosed that once a time-frame for the clearance of different applications are fixed at his office, he would instruct the State drug controllers also to follow the same. ``This can be even taken up as an agenda at the DCC meeting in October or to the DTAB so that the functioning of drug administration across the country is improved,'' he said.

Faced with shortage of manpower, the immediate effort was to fill up the vacant posts in the CDSCO. Already nine persons have been promoted as assistant drug controllers and advertisement was given to select four deputy drug controllers. Besides, 31 technical assistants are being appointed soon, he disclosed.

Looking forward to a smooth system on par with world-class standards once the E-governance is being fully implemented, the DCGI said the drug inspectors in the North Zone were already given laptops to send reports immediately from the field itself. It would now be extend to the West Zone also, he added.