20 Sirsa medical stores penalised for violations

The state Food and Drugs Administration (FDA) penalised owners of 20 medical stores for various violations during surprise checks conducted across the district on Thursday, officials said.

State Drug Controller Dr Lalit Goel said the inspections were carried out on the direction of FDA Commissioner Manoj Kumar. Six Drug Control Officers, supervised by the Senior Drug Control Officer of the Sirsa zone, were tasked with conducting the checks.

The raids were carried out on the basis of intelligence inputs at Singhpura, Ganga, Abubshahar, Chautala, Sakta Khera, Malikpura, Budhi Meri, Darbi and Bhavdin villages and in Sirsa city. Twenty-nine stores were inspected.

While no narcotic drugs were found, minor regulatory violations were detected in 20 stores. Reports have been submitted to higher authorities, and action is being taken against the offenders, as per the rules.

Some medical store owners closed their shops before the inspection team arrived. Over 29 stores were checked for controlled drugs, which are commonly misused as intoxicants. When departmental teams contacted the owners over phone, some said they had gone to a wedding, while others claimed they were out of station. The teams called a few of them back for inspection. However, prior warning allowed some owners to cover up and no major illegal drug was found.