Health Dept Gives a Bitter Pill to KSDP - Allaphuza

Kerala State Drugs and Pharmaceuticals Ltd (KSDP), the only drug manufacturing company under the state government, is teetering towards crisis owing to the neglect of the Health Department.


                          Kerala State Drugs and Pharmaceuticals Ltd at Kalavoor in Alappuzha

The production at KSDP has been hit following the lack of purchase orders from Kerala  Medical Services Corporation limited (KMSCL), the medicine purchasing wing of the Health Department, in last two months.

Following agitation by the employees under the leadership of T M Thomas Isaac MLA, around `3 crore was released by the KMSCL, on Saturday. But the amount is not sufficient to meet the needs of the company. 

“The government and KMSCL are spelling doom for the company, which plays a crucial role in controlling the price of life-saving drugs in the state. The ultramodern laboratory and beta-lactam plant remain incomplete owing to the neglect of Health Department,” Isaac said. KSDP Employees Union (CITU) joint secretary  K Rajendran said that last year `13 crore was sanctioned by KMSCL and the fund was released in time. This year only `8 crore is sanctioned and till now only `3crore is released. The delay in the release of amount has affected the purchase of raw material for the manufacturing of medicines.

Rajendran alleged that the policies of the state government has mired the company in crisis.  “KMSCL does not purchase medicines from the KSDP. It promotes private companies, which are distributing medicines at a higher price, which is 35 to 40 per cent more than KSDP’s price. The amount is distributed as commission to officials and leaders,” they alleged.

KSDP used to produce medicines worth over `40 crore during 2011-’12 as the LDF Government used to give huge order. Fund to establish a modern Beta-lactam plant, a modern laboratory and an injection plant were sanctioned by the previous government. Though the construction was started, the company failed to complete the projects on time owing to delay in the release of funds. The KSDP has the capacity to produce medicines worth `200 crore annually, he  said.

This year the KMSCL had allotted an order of only `8 crore. In the absence of orders, the production diminished and the company is moving towards loss, said  Rajendran.  He  said the company has the capacity to produce 45 varieties of medicines like   Antibiotics, Amoxicillin, Ciprofloxin and  Ampicilin, paracetamol, ORS, Avil and painkiller Brufin.

 A laboratory accredited by National Accreditation Board for Hospitals and Healthcare Providers (NABH) with international standards, to check the quality of the medicines, is also under construction. With this, it will be able to conduct quality check of its products purchased by KMSCL from other producers, but the construction is not yet completed,  Rajendran said.  “The KSDP had earned record profit during last few years. In 2011-12, it reported a record profit of `3 crore. The company had supplied about `40 crore worth medicines to the state. In 2010-11 year they supplied medicines worth `33 crore and gained profit of `2.40 crore. In 2009-11 the profit was `25 lakh and they supplied medicines worth `17 crore,” he said.  He said that the shortage of fund has delayed the construction of injection plant.   “In 2011 the estimated amount of the plant was `4.7 crore. But the delay in the construction escalated the cost to `9 crore. The delay of fund releasing leads to loss of crores of rupees to exchequer,” he said.

KSDP MD K B Jayakumar said the KMSCL has released `3 crore. “We are expecting another `1 crore soon . The work  of the lab and plant will be finished soon,” he said.



Source : The New Indian Express , 20th Oct 2014