Ministry of Health & Family Welfare recently approved the long standing demand of the Drugs Controller General of India (DCGI) to set up a sub zonal office in Goa. According to a reliable source from the government the DCGI has himself confirmed the news though it is yet to be notified officially.

The new sub zonal office will be set up in the premises of the Mormugao Port Trust (MPT). It is reported that MPT will be leasing out the port property to the central government for setting up both sub zonal office as well as ADC in the port premises. The port authorities had already given their approval for the same and now with the governments nod the industry is happy that the things will move at a faster rate.

Apart from the latest approved sub zonal office soon to be set up in Goa, the DCGI has other sub-zonal offices in Bangalore, Chandigarh, Jammu & Kashmir, Ahmedabad and Hyderabad. Where as the DCGI has four zonal office in the country in Ghaziabad (North Zone), Kolkata (East Zone), Mumbai (West Zone) and Chennai (South Zone).

The sub zonal office in Goa will be under the west zone ie Mumbai zonal office.

Arun Naik, president, Goa Pharmaceutical Manufacturers' Association (GPMA) informed that the industry is very happy over the current developments as the government has considered and respected both their demands by notifying Goa as a registered port with its official notification on its way and by approving a sub zonal office in Goa.

“Having a sub zonal office in the state will save a lot of time and energy of the industry, as it will help in addressing broader issues promptly. Moreover having an office in Goa will facilitate the growth of the business in lot of ways as it will help in focusing on working towards creating a stronger drug regulatory infrastructure especially with Goa on its way to have its own recognised port.”

Recently, under the Rule 22 of the Drug and Cosmetic Rules, Dr Surinder Singh, DCGI, handed over certain functional responsibilities to the zonal offices and sub zonal offices of the Central Drugs Standard Control Organisation (CDSCO). It is understood that this initiative taken with an aim to make the activities of the subordinate offices working under DCGI uniform.

Naik pointed out that with such pro active changes the industry will certainly have more scope for growth not only within the country but also internationally as it will lead to a transparent system.