Maharashtra Chemists & Distributors Federation (MCDF) recently sent a representation to the state government demanding inclusion of MCDF into the core committee consisting of officials from the Maharashtra Food and Drug Administration (Maha FDA) and representatives from the pharma trade associations. The federation insisted that to ensure fair play and provide level playing ground to all the stakeholders in the state it is imperative to give MCDF also an equal chance along with others to voice their concerns through the committee.

In its representation the federation pointed out that, in spite of having many active trade associations representing the pharma sector in the state most of them have been conspicuously ignored or avoided from being part of this committee. MCDF stressed that corrective measures should be taken immediately to include other associations as well into the committee so that decisions that are taken during the meeting are universally accepted.

Narendra Jain, general secretary, MCDF stressed that true objective of the committee can be achieved only by including all the stakeholders in the activities of the committee rather than just select few as this may lead to monopolization of one parties decision over the other.

Prior to the constitution of the committee, MCDF had a dialogue with the Minister of State, Satej Patil on having a platform for voicing their concerns and issues with a competitive authority for ensuring an ideal drug distribution system in the state. Yet, surprisingly the federation which have been an active  trade association working on many key issues has not been included in this committee.

According to Jain, “We have been constantly engaged in one-on-one discussion with the state from the start on highlighting our issues at a larger forum. Thus, we strongly believe that if the agenda of the committee is to address the issues of the trade associations and bridge the gap between us and the regulators it is only natural to include as many associations as possible to get the maximum impact. For fair policy discussions on any issues and for better future of healthcare services in Maharashtra, we would like to request the government to please give all the trade association an equal chance to present their opinion in the committee.”

MCDF in its representation pointed out that there are many other pharma trade associations other than MSCDA that also needs to find its place in the committee and proposed some names to be included into the committee to get a wider perspective of the problems. It is understood that MCDF has recommended Ramesh Sodani, Narendra Sancheti (Jain), Anil Goyal from MCDF; Gunvant Doshi and Mangal Colera from Hospital & Institutional Suppliers Association (HISA) and Prakash Parulekar and Mukund Rege from Maha Mumbai Retail Chemists & Distributors Association (MMRCDA) to be included in this committee.