The health ministry further extended the tenure of Dr G N Singh with the  additional charges of the Drug Controller General of India (DCGI) by three more months effective from May 22. The order announcing the same was issued by the health ministry on May 29 and comes as a great relief to the industry which has been demanding for some stability in the position of the drug regulator of the country.

Dr Singh informed that now with this order he will be able to bring in stability to his position by enacting and working on the mission of the CDSCO to safeguard and enhance public health by assuring safety, efficacy and quality of drugs, cosmetics and medical devices in the country.

Dr Singh who was appointed and given the additional charges of the DCGI for three months from February this year has been embroiled over controversy over his appointment as the DCGI.

The contempt of court petition against the appointment of Dr GN Singh as DCGI was filed in the first week of March this year by Dilip Kumar, secretary of the Tamil Nadu branch Indian Pharmacy Graduates Association (IPGA) who had earlier challenged the health ministry's new Recruitment Rule (RR) in the Madras High Court on the plea that the ministry had tailor-made the new rules to fit its nominee in the post of DCGI.

The Supreme Court's order virtually barred the government from appointing anybody as DCGI as per the new RR till the pendency of the case in Madras High Court.

But instead of waiting for the final settlement of the issue in the Madras High Court, the health ministry in a proactive action appointed Indian Pharmacopoeia Commission (IPC)'s secretary-cum-scientific director Dr GN Singh as DCGI. Dr Singh was given additional charge as the DCGI on February 21 this year.