By IANS
Jammu : As many as 10,000 out of about 15,000 chemist shops in Jammu and Kashmir may be running illegally, a pharmacists’ organisation alleged here Monday, demanding a probe into the matter.
“Illiterate people have been given license of pharmacists in the state and they are playing havoc. They were allotted licenses by the government for a consideration and the amount involved runs into several crores (multiples of millions),” Rakesh Gupta, general secretary of the Jammu and Kashmir Pharmacists’ Association, told a press conference here.
“About 10,000 chemist shops are being run illegally in the state. Let the qualifications of all those running the chemist shops in the state be verified,” Gupta said.
It is mandatory to have a degree in pharmacy to own and run a chemist shop. But the norms have been thrown to winds, according to the pharmacists’ association.
Gupta said his association would move the Supreme Court next month if the government failed to take action.
“After all, this is a matter concerning health of the people of the state,” Gupta said.
When contacted, the health department officials refused to comment on the issue.