Kochi: Though the Government had sanctioned 32 posts for the sprawling new Regional Drug Testing Laboratory which started functioning at Kakkanad here, on Thursday, the Drug Control Department has managed to find only five members of staff so far.
The five-storied lab has a built-up space of 25,000 sq ft and it cost the government Rs 12 cr.
State Drugs Controller B. Hariprasad said the sanctioned staff strength could not be met as the PSC was yet to hand over the list of recruits to them. “We have no option but to recruit temporary staff from employment exchanges which will start soon.”
The lab here, the second one in the state after Thiruvananthapuram, can in fact house a much larger number of analysts.
“There is already a demand to raise the posts to 70-plus, but in fact we can accommodate more than that number which will enable us to test more samples,” Hariprasad said.
Though the number of drug samples that can be tested in the state could go up to 8,000 from the 4,000 at present, with the opening of the new lab, this may not materialize immediately.
With the current sanctioned strength, not more than 2,500 samples could be tested at the lab here. About 2,60,00 batches of medicines are sold every year in the state, constituting 10 per cent of the medicines sold a year in the country.
Earlier, while inaugurating the lab, Chief Minister Oommen Chandy denied the allegations that the Government had imposed a recruitment ban in the state.
“In fact, my Government had given sanction for appointing 82,000 personnel in various departments in the last two-and-a-half years.
The Government is ready to create more posts at the new lab, if it is found that more employees are required,” he said. Health Minister V.S.Sivakumar presided over the function.
