In yet another headache to the union health ministry, the All India Drugs Control Officers Confederation (AIDCOC) has submitted a representation to the Union Public Services Commission (UPSC) to stay all the procedures for the selection of Deputy Drugs Controller of India in CDSCO, in accordance with the advertisement given by it recently.

Further to a halt in the operation, the Confederation wanted the central recruitment body to rectify the recruitment rules for the post of Dy DCI with respect to qualification and experience as per Drugs and Cosmetics (D&C) Act and Rules. The qualification and experience mentioned in the advertisement is against the clauses prescribed for the post in the D&C Rules, said Ravi Uday Bhaskar, the secretary general of AIDCOC.

According to his missive to the UPSC chairman, the officer concerned appointed to the said post must possess the qualification and experience as stipulated under Rule 49 (A) of the Drugs & Cosmetics Rules 1945. The clause includes only degree in pharmacy, pharmaceutical chemistry or in medicine with specialization in clinical pharmacology or microbiology from University established in India by law, and no other degree or even equivalent degree is considered suitable for the purpose of Rule 49(A).

His memorandum says the advertisement calls for applications from post graduates in Chemistry, inter alia, other prescribed qualifications, which does not find place under Rule 49 (A). He alleged that this deviation from the prescribed rules would defeat the very purpose of statutory requirements stipulated in the Rules.

The Confederation also wants to fight against a clause with regard to experience described in the advertisement which says that candidates who have fifteen years experience in dealing with the problems connected with drugs standardization and control of drugs standards can also apply for the post. But the drug control officers say that it cannot be considered adequate for the purpose of appointment to the post. In the event of anomalies in earlier advertisements for DCGI and Deputy DCI posts, AIDCOC had submitted memorandums to the UPSC on several occasions, he said in the letter.

While speaking to Pharmabiz, the secretary general of AIDCOC said the provisions of Rule 49(A) have been incorporated under Drugs and Cosmetics Rules 1945 on the basis of recommendations of various committees constituted by the Government of India from time to time. The Committees such as Pharmaceutical Inquiry Committee, Drugs Inquiry Committee, Hathi Committee etc. had unanimously recommended that the Drugs Control Organizations in India must be headed by technically qualified persons.

“The posts of DCGI and Dy DCI should be manned by the competent persons possessing necessary qualification and experience strictly as prescribed under Rule 49(A) of the D&C Rules. The qualification and experience mentioned in the advertisement for the post of deputy drugs controller India is not as per Rule 49 (A),” he said.                                        

Besides sending copies of the memorandum to the union health ministry, AIDCOC has sought the intervention of Indian Pharmacy Graduates Association (IPGA), Pharmacy Council of India (PCI) and Association of Pharmacy Teachers of India (APTI) to take up the matter.

AIDCOC, in association with IPGA, had earlier filed petitions in the High Court of Madras and in the Supreme Court against the recruitment rules framed by the union health ministry for the appointment of DCGI.