Starting Saturday, the Uttarakhand government is launching Operation Clean, a statewide crackdown on counterfeit and substandard medicines. Under the campaign, pharmaceutical companies, wholesalers, and retailers will be inspected, and medicine samples will be collected for lab testing.
The campaign is being led by the Food Safety and Drug Administration on the directive of Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami. A Quick Response Team (QRT), headed by Assistant Drug Controller Hemant Singh Negi and comprising eight officials, has been formed to lead field inspections.
Health Secretary Dr. R. Rajesh Kumar said the mission is aligned with the state’s vision of making Uttarakhand drug-free while ensuring the supply of quality medicines. The initiative will be carried out under the Drugs and Cosmetics Act, 1940 and its 1945 rules. Strict actions will be taken against those involved in the manufacture, storage, or sale of counterfeit, misbranded, substandard, or narcotic drugs.
Special surveillance will be maintained at the Indo-Nepal border and other sensitive border areas to curb cross-border smuggling of fake drugs.
The QRT includes Dr. Sudhir Kumar, Neeraj Kumar, Meenakshi Bisht, C.P. Negi, Anita Bharti, Manvendra Singh Rana, Nisha Rawat, and Gauri Kukreti. For operational efficiency, districts are divided into two categories:
- Category 1: Dehradun, Haridwar, Nainital, Udhamsingh Nagar, Pauri
- Category 2: Almora, Rudraprayag, Tehri, Uttarkashi, Champawat
Weekly reports of medicine samples collected from districts will be prioritized for testing. A toll-free helpline (18001804246) has also been set up to report fake drugs.
