HYDERABAD: Crunch on all fronts. Hit by asevere shortage of manpower, vehicles and budgetary allocation, the Drug Control Authority (DCA) is finding its functioning hampered in the State.

Till recently, the DCA struggled with a small army of drug inspectors, only 50 were on rolls against a requirement put at five times the figure required to monitor nearly 40,000 outlets across the State. Though efforts were made to recruit another 50 inspectors, only 16 joined and there is no sign of the remaining 34.

Since the job is on contract basis and comes with a remuneration of Rs. 9,000, not many were said to be keen on taking up the job. However, DCA Director R. Ranga Rao expressed confidence that the posts would be filled soon.

At the same time, staffers complain about lack of vehicles for monitoring drug outlets. Presently, there are only six vehicles, including four jeeps. Of these, only two are in a working condition. There is no jeep with the city wing and staffers point out that even the Director has a car that is almost 28 years old!

No separate budget

Given the situation, drug inspectors are forced to use public transportation for picking up samples from different parts of the city. And that too by paying the fare from their own pockets. Worse, the inspectors have to spend their money to collect samples from medical stores since no separate budget is provided for the purpose.

"You pay a pittance and then expect them to spend from it for travelling across the city and buy medicine for analysis. If the small remuneration goes for office purpose, what will the inspector feed his family with?" asks an official.

This has also been resulting in, some point out, a situation where drug inspectors turn wary of picking up costly samples. However, the DCA Director contests this by saying that drug inspectors can always get medicines on credit billing. But what if a medical store refuses credit? "Since every bill is reimbursed, they can claim the money back," Mr. Rao says.

But a look at the budget available presents a different picture. Only Rs. 8 lakh is what is allocated under the `Other Office Expenses' head. Apart from buying stationery, taking care of other expenses incurred in running offices across the State, there is very little left for collecting samples and to send them for analysis.

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