More than 15,000 pharmaceutical shops in the Capital remained shut on Tuesday as part of a nationwide protest. The All India Organisation of Chemists and Druggists (AIOCD) had called for the strike to protest against the e-pharmacy regulations that the Central government is mulling over to support online sale of drugs. More than nine lakh medical shops all over the country remained shut for the day.
The chemists are up in arms against the rules that demand e-portal registration and updating of every purchase and sale of medicines, saying these would create hurdles in their functioning. The AIOCD and the Retailers and Distributors Chemist Association (RDCA), the two main bodies for chemists, questioned the need for such norms, when only 10 per cent of retailers in the country used computers.
"There are no guidelines for online pharmacies, which are making a killing in the market. The government wants us to update details about sale and purchase of medicines on a portal, but what about those shops that are located in remote areas and do not have access to Internet?," Sandeep Nangia, President of the Retails Distributors Chemist Association said.
Meanwhile, people faced a tough time as most chemist shops in their colonies remained shut. Only those shops that were in and around the government hospitals remained operational for emergency cases.
With shutters of most shops down all day, many people were forced to go to government hospitals to get required medicines. In northwest Delhi's Ashok Vihar Deepchand Market, all four pharmacy shops downed their shutters, even as customers queued up outside.
Shalini Gupta, a resident, said: "I had to get medicines for my sister, who is pregnant. She had run out of her daily dose, which is important for her to keep healthy in this condition. I requested the shop owner while he was shutting down to give me the medicines, but he refused. It was a most harrowing day for us."
