The government of Tamil Nadu will appoint 25 new drug inspectors in 15 days to fill up the existing vacancies in various parts of the state. Further, it plans to speed up the procedures to fill up the vacancies of Pharmacists in the health department, according to V K Subburaju, principal secretary & commissioner, Health & Family Welfare Department

The principal secretary was inaugurating the 48th National Pharmacy Week Celebration jointly organized by Indian Pharmaceutical Association TN chapter and TN Pharmaceutical Sciences Welfare Trust, in Chennai.

Sources from the Drugs Control Directorate said the process of recruiting fresh drug inspectors has been completed by the state public service commission and the health department is processing the procedures. The directorate is getting a group of drug inspectors after a period of ten years. The last recruitment through PSC was held in the year 1999, they said. The written examination for the Drug Inspector test was conducted in May last.

On the sidelines of the meeting, the principal secretary told Pharmabiz that many hospitals and clinical centres in the state were deprived of pharmacists and those vacancies would be filled up soon. Steps have already been taken to speed up the activity.

While addressing the audience, Subburaju said his department is ready to fill up all the vacancies, but there are so many procedural problems. Some senior posts are still lying vacant in the department. When the government plans to appoint a person through promotion, somebody will go to the court for claim. It becomes bottlenecks for the procedure, he said.

M Bhaskaran, director of Drug Control department, R Narayanasamy and J Jayaseelan from IPA, and N Sreenivasan from Pharmaceutical sciences welfare Trust were present in the meeting.