Ministry of Ayush in the process of filling up nine posts for the Office of Central Ayush Drugs Controller
The Union Ministry of Ayush is in the process of filling up nine posts created for setting up the office of Central Ayush Drugs Controller on a regular basis in consultation with the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC). It has recently appointed nine officers for additional charge in these posts without any additional remuneration, said the Minister of Ayush Sarbananda Sonowal.In a written reply in the Rajya Sabha on December 13, the Minister said that a total of nine posts – four of drug inspectors (one in each stream of Ayurveda, Siddha, Unani and Homoeopathy); four posts of assistant Drug Controller (one in each stream) has been created for setting up of the Office of the Central Ayush Drugs Controller in the Ministry of Ayush.While it has appointed nine officers with additional charge on September 27, 2022, it is in the process of filling these posts on a regular basis as part of its efforts to strengthen the quality control of Ayush drugs, added the Minister.Some of the other steps it has taken for assured quality control of Ayush drugs in the country include schemes to support ayurvedic medicines production: Under National Ayush Mission (NAM) from 2014-2021, apart from other services Grant-in-aid were also provided for Strengthening of State Government ASU&H Pharmacies. At present, the Central Sector Scheme for Ayush Oushadhi Gunavatta evam Uttpadan Samvardhan Yojana (AOGUSY) has been implemented for the year 2021-2026. The components of the Ayush Oushadhi Gunvatta Evam Uttpadan Samvardhan Yojana Scheme include strengthening and up-gradation of Ayush Pharmacies and Drug Testing Laboratories to achieve higher standards, pharmacovigilance of ASU&H drugs including surveillance of misleading advertisements, and strengthening of Central and State regulatory frameworks including Technical Human Resource & Capacity Building programs for Ayush drugs.Support for development of standards and accreditation/certification of Ayush products & materials in collaboration with Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS), Quality Control of India (QCI) and other relevant scientific institutions and industrial R&D centres. Pharmacopoeia Commission for Indian Medicine & Homoeopathy (PCIM&H), a subordinate office under Ministry of Ayush lays down Pharmacopoeial Standards and Formulary specifications for Ayurveda, Siddha, Unani and Homoeopathy (ASU&H) drugs within the ambit of Drugs & Cosmetics Act, 1940, which serve as official compendia for ascertaining the quality of the drugs included therein. Further, PCIM&H as an appellate drug testing laboratory receives the samples from Government agencies as per Drugs & Cosmetics Act & Rules there under for ascertaining their quality. In 2021, Pharmacopoeia Commission for Indian Medicine & Homoeopathy, Ghaziabad a subordinate office of Ministry of Ayush has signed a MoU with American Herbal Pharmacopoeia, United States of America (USA) for developing standards of Ayurveda and other Indian systems of medicine on international standards. Further, PCIM&H and Indian Pharmacopoeia Commission (IPC) have signed a MoU for developing “One Herb One Standard”.In addition to these, for facilitating exports, Ministry of Ayush encourages following certifications of Ayush products, such as the Certification of Pharmaceutical Products (CoPP) as per WHO Guidelines for herbal products, Quality Certifications Scheme implemented by the Quality Council of India for grant of Ayush Premium mark to Ayurvedic, Siddha and Unani products on the basis of third party evaluation of quality in accordance with the status of compliance to international standards.It has also enabled 27 State Drug Testing Laboratories getting support for strengthening their infrastructural and functional capacity. So far, 81 laboratories are approved or licensed under the provisions of Drugs and Cosmetics Rules, 1945 for quality testing of Ayurvedic, Siddha and Unani drugs and raw materials.Pharmacovigilance Centres for Ayurveda, Siddha, Unani and Homoeopathy (ASU&H) Drugs in different parts of the country under the Central Scheme of Ministry of Ayush are mandated to monitor and report the misleading advertisements to the respective State Regulatory Authorities. A three tier structure consisting of a National Pharmacovigilance Co-ordination Centre (NPvCC), Intermediary Pharmacovigilance Centres (IPvCs) and Peripheral Pharmacovigilance Centres (PPvCs) is established. All India Institute of Ayurveda (AIIA), New Delhi under Ministry of Ayush is the National Pharmacovigilance Co-ordination Centre (NPvCC) for the implementation of the National Pharmacovigilance programme for Ayurveda, Siddha, Unani & Homoeopathy drugs. Objectionable advertisements are being reported to the respective State Licensing Authorities by PPvC at regular intervals, added the Minister.
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