H S Kamble an IAS officer from Maharashtra Cadre of 1997 batch will replace Purushottam Bhapkar as Commissioner, Food and Drugs Administration, Mumbai. Bhapkar has now been posted as managing director, Maharashtra State Cooperative Marketing Federation, Mumbai in place of Nand Kumar.

Having a short stint of 7 months as Maharashtra FDA Commissioner, Purushottam Bhapkar had replaced Mahesh Zagade as the new Commissioner of Maharashtra Food and Drug Administration (FDA).

Ever since he took over the charge, Bhapkar spearheaded a massive crackdown on WHO-GMP units across the state through surprise inspections. Around 60 big manufacturing companies had come under the state FDA scanner in the wake of ongoing global regulatory scrutiny on Indian manufacturing plants with reference to GMP practices.   

His predecessor former FDA Commissioner Zagade spearheaded a massive crackdown against chemists for overcharging drugs like paracetamol brands in contravention to Drug Price Control Order (DPCO) 2013 and NPPA policy. It helped the government to recover around crores of rupees. He started a drive against doctors illegally stocking antibiotics in bulk and played a major role in detecting and taking strict action on internet pharmacy rackets since the start of the year.

Under his leadership, state FDA seized and prohibited illegal trade of addictive prescription drugs like anti-depressants and sex boosters worth crores of rupees. The drugs were being illegally exported to Japan, Western Europe and other countries, without prescriptions and valid licence. His work on the ban of tobacco-related products was recognized by World Health Organization (WHO) for which he was given a global award.