Industry insiders have expressed their concern over the shortage of drug inspectors (DI's) in Maharashtra and urged the state government to take steps to recruit the selected MPSC candidates at least on a conditional basis to ensure safety and protection of public health at large. This demand comes in the wake of the recent High Court (HC) stay order against Maharashtra Administrative Tribunal (MAT) verdict.

Recently the HC stayed the impugned judgement and order passed by the MAT by stating that it found the selection procedure which was adopted by the Maharashtra Public Service Commission (MPSC) was in accordance with the rules framed by it. In its stay order the HC held that in a conflict between stipulation in advertisement and the rules it is the rules which would prevail.

In the wake of this stay order many in the industry believe that the state government should recruit the selected candidate to fill up the vacant posts at the earliest so that urgent issues over the shortage of DI's can be met with.

At present there are only 65 DI's in the state of Maharashtra which is extremely low, compared to the requirement of 287 DI's as recommended by the  expert committee set up by the government.

An industry insider stressed, “What is more alarming is that in the next two years, number of DI's is again going to fall by almost half, since many of them are at the verge of retirement or promotion. There is enough trouble already due to inadequate number of inspectors in the FDA to monitor and discharge duties efficiently in a state as big as Maharashtra.”

Based on the recommendation the state had selected 83 candidates for the post however the whole process came to a standstill over a dispute over the selection process.

Due to the shortage of DI's in the state, Maharashtra FDA on many instances have failed in performing its duty putting the life of the citizens at high risk. This also leads to a situation where the onus of detecting questionable activities fall on other agencies.

Recently the directorate of revenue intelligence seized large quantity of ketamine, a drug used for anaesthesia but misused as date(rape) drug from Kamud Drugs for the second time in a year due to the in efficiency of the state FDA.

He said, “It is high time for the government to realise that there are not enough drug inspectors as compared to the huge requirements within the state. This is not only affecting the administrative work but also is putting the life of people at risk.”