By representing the whole Ayurveda, Siddha and Unani manufacturers community of Tamil Nadu, the newly floated Indian Medicine Manufacturers’ Association (IMMA), will refer the issues of the state’s traditional drug manufacturers to the Chief Minister for his immediate intervention in the matter.

According to sources, all the manufacturing units, irrespective of big and small, are now in a state of predicament because of the insistence of ISM department in terms of Ayush protocol. This is in addition to the difficulties they are encountering everyday to run the business. However, the industry members are not against implementing the new protocols, but the offices of the ISM department are sticking on the stringent norms even before a thorough understanding of the laws by the manufacturers.

According to the secretary of IMMA, the government led by M Karunanidhi is doing so much for the welfare of the traditional drug industry, but the bureaucrats and other officials in the ISM directorate are not supporting the manufacturing units. He said many of the units are relocating to other states, especially to Karnataka due to this anti-industry steps being adopted by the department officials.

“Government wants to encourage the industry even it has exempted the ISM industry from paying Sales Tax. But the department is not co-operating with the industry. The attitude of the officials has to be changed. So we are going to meet the Chief Minister and the Deputy Chief Minister with our long standing complaints”, R Govindarajan, the secretary of IMMA told Pharmabiz.

He said the manufacturers are encountering difficulties in getting licenses, renewal of licenses, additional product endorsement certificates and the newly introduced Ayush protocols. For many years the renewal process of licensing is pending with the department which creates many a problem to the Ayush industry. No information is given to the people of the manufacturing side. Whatever they ask, they are being told to fulfil the Ayush protocols. He said in the long run, it is easy for the industry to fulfil the norms as mere analysis of pesticides and lead content in raw materials, requires more than Rs.16,000 per product. It is not easy for the big players to expend such amount on a string of hundred products.

According to him, the manufacturers in Karnataka have no problems and they get all licenses and certificates within 24 hours of filing application. The department of ISM in Karnataka is working with the industry and the state is going to be the number one in ISM in the country soon. Because of the department’s friendly attitude there, this year’s World Ayurvedic Conference is held in Bangalore. It would have conducted here, had the ISM Department of Tamil Nadu co-operated and supported properly the traditional drug industry, he said.

When asked how the new Commissioner’s attitude towards the industry, he said the previous Commissioner, A Rajkumar, was very much industry friendly and everything was going smoothly then. But the secretary of IMMA responded that officials in the department at the directorate, especially of licensing authority’s office, are not encouraging. Further he said if a representative of a company goes alone to the office for something, he won’t get any help. The officials there will not help the industry members. The situation in the Anna Hospital complex has reached to such a pathetic state, Govindaraja said while preparing a note to the Chief Minister.

To another question, the IMMA secretary said their old organization, TASUDMA, was aware of all these problems, but it kept a lukewarm attitude towards the issues of the industry, hence they floated the new organization.

The people of the industry were afraid of the ISM department officials while narrating their problems to media in view of the adverse effects that can be resulted from any kind of vengeance.