Health services hit hard as chemists go on strike

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, July 30

Health services across the state were severely hit on Monday with about 24,000 members of the Punjab Chemist Association going on a one-day strike, opposing raids by the police and the drug administration.

Giving tough time to people, chemist shops throughout Ludhiana remained shut. There are nearly 4,000 chemist shops in the district that downed their shutters on Monday.

However, there was a mix response in Patiala city as another organisation of chemists, Retail Sale Chemist Association Patiala, did not participate in the protest. Most of the chemist shops in the Patiala market remained closed.

Inderjit Dua, chairman, Wholesale Chemist Association, Patiala, said, “In their crackdown against drug mafia, chemists are being made the soft target.”

A complete shutdown was witnessed in Bathinda. Retail Chemist Association president Ashok Ballianwali said the police was “harassing” chemists during their ongoing anti-drug campaign.

They have demanded that police interference should be stopped. They also demanded that the state government should release a list stating which all medicines chemists could sell in their shops. “If the government releases such a list, we will keep only those medicines,” Ballianwali said.

About 200 chemists of Fazilka town and surrounding areas observed a complete shutdown protesting against online sale of medicines and “police pressure” on chemists.

Meanwhile, Patients faced inconvenience as chemist shops inside private hospitals had also joined the strike. Chemists' main demands are that random raids should be stopped. These should be conducted only if the authorities have concrete information against them.

The protesters also demanded that officials from the district administration and the police should not come for conducting raids since they “do not know the basics” about drugs and medicines.