Pune (Maharashtra) [India], May 20 (ANI): Shiv Sena (UBT) MP Sanjay Raut on Wednesday questioned the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) governments in centre and state amid the ongoing one-day nationwide strike by the All India Organisation of Chemists and Druggists (AIOCD), stating that “the public has to fight their own battles”.
The one-day strike that began today (May 20) has been called by the AIOCD, demanding a complete halt to online sale of medicines and withdrawal of certain government notifications related to e-pharmacy operations.
Addressing a press conference here, Raut alleged that those asking questions are termed as “traitors”. He highlighted the strikes called by different associations and asked whether the authorities, especially Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, would take any accountability.
“There’s a certain atmosphere in the country. If we ask questions about it, we’ll be branded as traitors. The Chemists Association, transport workers, yes… and many others want to go on strike. Jewellers, gold merchants, everyone. So will the Prime Minister provide answers to them? To their questions? Will the Chief Minister of the state? No one will answer. The people will have to fight their own battles,” he said.
This comes as several medical shops and pharmacies remain closed in Pune as the AIOCD called for a nationwide 24-hour medicine sales strike, protesting over alleged unregulated e-pharmacy operations, deep discounts, and unverified online sales of prescription drugs.
Several medical stores in Pune had their shutters down in protest.
Speaking to ANI, Pune Chemist Association Treasurer Rohit Karpe noted and explained their demands: complete cessation of online medicine sales, repeal of two government orders, redressal of deep discounting practices by retail chains and call for the implementation of the DPCO.
“We have declared a complete shutdown on May 20, 2022, for one day. All India Organisation of Chemists and Druggists has three demands. The first demand is the complete cessation of online medicine sales and the repeal of two government orders, GSR 220 and GSR 817, issued in March 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic. The second demand is for the government to address deep discounting practices by retail chains and organised companies, which they argue lead to the sale of spurious medicines. The third demand is to call for the implementation of the DPCO (Drug Price Control Order) to increase retailer margins, allowing us to offer better discounts to patients and citizens,” he said.
Several medical shops and pharmacies also remained closed in Gujarat’s Rajkot as part of the nationwide strike.
Speaking to ANI earlier, AIOCD national president JS Shinde termed the current online sale of medicines in the country as “entirely unlawful and illegal”.
“The online sale of medicines has recently commenced. However, the online sales currently taking place are entirely unlawful and illegal. This is because the government had previously issued a notification regarding this matter, specifically GSR 817,” he said.
Shinde said the organisation had opposed the online sale of medicines during policy discussions with the government, arguing that such systems could eventually “fall into the hands of the mafia” if not properly regulated.
“We submitted that the online sale of medicines, when viewed in a global context, is not a beneficial practice; rather, it tends to fall into the hands of the mafia. We argued that establishing such a system would necessitate the development of a robust IT infrastructure,” he stated.
The AIOCD has placed three major demands before the government. These include cancellation of Notification GSR 817 and formulation of a fresh framework for medicine sales, withdrawal of Notification GSR 220 introduced during the COVID-19 pandemic, and action against deep discounts being offered by online medicine platforms.
Shinde said offline chemists should also be allowed higher margins under the Drug Price Control Order (DPCO) if online platforms continue to offer large discounts to customers.
The protest comes amid growing debate over the regulation of online pharmacies and medicine delivery platforms in the country. (ANI)
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