Karnataka drugs control department has received a budget allocation of Rs 2 crore under plan expenditure. The amount will be utilised for the upgradation of the government pharmacy college and the drug test lab.

Although the details of exact funding for the two facilities for the purposes of upgradation and modernisation were not available, the sources informed that both would get a major facelift with the amount. The Government College of Pharmacy, which is ranked among the ten top institutions in the country will now have new labs and expansion of the facility. The drugs test lab will also be able to acquire new equipment.

The state government has also sanctioned Rs 10 lakh for purchase of computers. This will allow linking of the 12 offices of the drugs control department and 5 blood banks in the State. As a pilot project initiative, the drugs department will network the 7 drugs control offices, which includes the head office and six Circles, located in Bangalore along with the Drugs Price Control Order (DPCO) Cell and 5 Blood Banks located in Bangalore (2), Gulbarga, Hubli and Mysore. "During this first phase, we will ensure to sort out the teething problems of computerisation and networking and then extend the efforts to the drugs control offices located in the other districts of the State," informed Prabha Kumar, deputy drugs controller, Karnataka Drugs Control department.

The computerisation efforts were spearheaded after the government of India's Technical Appraisal Committee provided a standard operating software for drugs control departments across the country.

The first phase of the project has commenced and the second phase of the computerisation project will take place after June this year and will cover the 14 offices located at Hubli, Belgaum, Gulbarga, Mysore, Mangalore, Bellary, Tumkur, Davangere, Raichur and Hassan.

The computerisation is expected to make the department more efficient. Even show cause notices on drug licences to companies will be issued via email and companies can update their license details via email, stated Prabha Kumar. "This will speed up work and allow the department to improve the quality standards in service," he added.

Since last year, the department has initiated faxing of drug test reports and if companies have no facility for Facsimile, then the document is sent by speed post. Now with the networking of offices, the reports can be emailed too.

In the wake of the computerisation efforts, the department is also facing a serious shortage of personnel. Out of the 39 posts sanctioned in the drug inspectors cadre, seven are still lying vacant. Right now there are 32 inspectors overseeing operations across the state. According to the Health and Family Welfare Task Force recommendations, 200 drug inspectors are required for every 100-pharmacy establishments and for 25 manufacturing units need one inspector. Under the circumstances, the current shortfall is tremendous as there are only eight inspectors overseeing 214 units. "We have been managing despite the dearth of personnel, and hope to fill up the vacant posts in due course of time," said Prabha Kumar.