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The All India Organisation of Chemists and Druggists (AIOCD), which claims to have around 8.5 lakh chemists as its members, has urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman to provide insurance cover to all the chemists to strengthen their fight against COVID-19.
"Our all 8.5 lakh members and office bearers of states and districts have been fighting the battle of managing the demand and supply gap of medicines, exposing themselves to dangerous situations making themselves vulnerable to COVID-19 infections. I expect that your office shall consider the gravity of the issue and accept our request and pass necessary orders,” said AIOCD president J S Shinde.
The AIOCD president also regretted that the pharmacist community in the country is not getting the due recognition they deserve and also its members are expecting government to reciprocate their contribution and services rendered to the needy patients amid COVID-19 pandemic in the country.
“As you are aware, from the very beginning of the COVID-19 induced lockdown in the country from March 25, our members in every nook and corner of the country have been working day and night to see that not a single citizen of the country is deprived of medicines. We do believe that we must stand by the government and people of India as COVID-19 warriors and that is what we have done till date and will continue till we get to win over COVID-19,” said Rajiv Singhal, general secretary, AIOCD.
"Some of our AIOCD members were found positive and few of them succumbed to death. This may create panic in entire trade community and may affect supply of essential medicines to needy people in the absence of proper medical cover," Singhal added,
Earlier, AIOCD had sought Prime Minister’s intervention in getting relaxation in Section 40(A)(3) of Income Tax (IT) Act to pharmaceutical retailers till June 30, 2020 or till the date of normalcy from COVID-19 pandemic returns. Recently, AIOCD has acknowledged state government’s efforts on consistent supply and availability of medicine in Tripura.
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