LUDHIANA: Creating problems for patients, chemist stores in the city downed their shutters for the second day on Saturday, after several chemist associations went on an indefinite strike from Friday evening, following raids on three chemist shops on Pakhowal Road the same day.
The
district administration has launched a drive to check drug menace in the state, which was followed by raids on chemist shops that has irked wholesale dealers and retailers. Chemist associations had planned the strike from Monday, but the immediate call for the strike was taken in the wake of raids conducted on Friday by revenue officers.
Meanwhile, people suffered great difficulties in getting medicines, as medical stores were kept closed and the patients were seen rushing with medical prescriptions outside hospitals. “My wife is an
asthma patient, and she has to take medicines every month. I have been running from one medical store to other. None of them have agreed to provide the medicines,” said Gagandeep (53), who visited Tagore Nagar.
Chemist associations in the city accused the state government of making them a scapegoat in its fight to end the drug menace. Most chemists who spoke said they supported the government’s initiative to check the supply of drugs, but it has also led to harassment and social embarrassment for them.
Gubaksh Singh Chawla, president of
Ludhiana District Chemist Association, said: “Chemists should not be targeted through ‘Nasha Mukt Punjab’ by casting aspersions on the entire profession. The government has done a big damage to their reputations. Due to 5% people indulging in peddling, 95% of the chemists are being affected. They have to look after and control online dealings as well. We are going to continue the strike even on Sundays.”
The district has around 500 wholesale chemist shops, and 3,000 retail shops. Old-timers in the business said a one-day strike would affect sales to the tune of around Rs20 crore. The associations are agitated over frequent raids, and fear people will be falsely implicated under the NDPS Act.
Furthermore, Pradeep Malhotra — who runs his chemist shop Payal Pharmacy near DMCH — said: “The district administration has involved officials of all other departments who have no domain knowledge of medicine or health issues. During the raids conducted by the district administration, the team comprised revenue officials. How on earth can a revenue official determine whether the medicines we sell fall under the banned category?
Some members of Ludhiana Retail Chemists’ Association, led by Aman Ahuja, were seen moving around the city to assess the effect of the bandh. The group was also asking chemists to shut down their shops. Ahuja said they had closed their shops, as the government blamed them for selling drugs. “We are in fact supporting the government in its anti-drug drive. The government blames us for selling banned drugs, so we have shut down our shops. Now, it seems the state will be free of drugs as we, the suppliers, have already closed our shops,” added Ahuja.
Meanwhile, talks with the chief minister’s office on the issue remained inconclusive.
Representative image
