Responding to a call given by the All-India Organisation of Chemists and Druggists, activists of the District Chemists Association, Malerkotla, have announced to keep their shops closed on Wednesday. The Indian Medical Association, Punjab, has also decided to support the protest call made by the organisation.
Shashi Kumar Goel and Sukhvir Singh Mann, general secretary and president of the District Chemists Association, Malerkotla, said all shops and counters supplying and dispensing medicines would remain closed on Wednesday to impress upon the Union Government to withdraw the alleged draconian rules which had adversely affected the working of their outlets.
Ban on online sale of pharmaceutical preparations, huge discounts to the corporate sector and supply of counterfeit medicine were cited among the major demands of the association. Goel said the agitation was also meant to impress upon the government with GSR 817 ( dated 28/08/2018) and Covid GSR 220 (dated 26/03/2020) keeping in view the interests of ailing patients.
Meanwhile, president, Punjab Branch of Indian Medical Association, RS Sethi vide a communication sent to the Punjab Chemists Association has extended support to the strike. Maintaining that the IMA has always supported genuine demands of health partners, the IMA president claimed that the pharmacy staff at hospitals and nursing homes had been requested to dispatch only emergency requirements and wear black badges on Wednesday to show solidarity with the agitating chemists and druggists.
