Following chief minister Prithviraj Chavan's assurance that a committee will be set up to resolve their long pending issues, the chemists in Maharashtra have called off their proposed agitation under which they have threatened to work only between 2 pm and 10 pm from June 26, although rules require them to make drugs available 24 hours.

The chief minister, who convened a meeting yesterday to find an amicable solution to the face-off between the Maharashtra FDA and the aggrieved chemists, met the leaders of the Maharashtra State Chemists and Druggist Association (MSCDA) who are spearheading agitation in the state.

In the meeting, the chief minister assured the association members that a grievance redressal cell for chemists will be formed within a period of eight days which will have representatives from chemist associations, Pharmacy Council of India (PCI), FDA officials and two state ministers namely Manohar Naik and Bunty Patil.

Ravi Awate, secretary to the Minister, Bunty Patil informed, "The committee will solve the long pending issues of chemists and Addl Chief Secretary medical education Anant Kulkarni would preside over the committee."

The chemist association has come out with the argument that they are running the business for the past 40 years successfully but the high handedness of the FDA officials has hampered their spirit to run the trade in a congenial environment. The exercise of suspending and canceling licenses of chemists just because there is a temporary absence of a qualified pharmacist due to some compulsion is very harsh and irrational, the association said.

Thousands of chemists in the state have been at loggerheads with the state Food and Drugs Administration (FDA) for initiating a special drive to suspend and cancel licenses of chemist stores operating without qualified pharmacists.