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 In a closely fought election for the office-bearers of the All Kerala Chemists and Druggists Association (AKCDA), the panel led by the incumbent president, A N Mohan, has emerged victorious, securing another term for his leadership.
Out of the 175 votes cast by the general council members, he received 110 votes. The opposing candidate, Philip Anil Cheriyan, lost with 65 votes.
Antony Tharyan is the new general secretary in the panel of office-bearers. Ten years ago, he led a rebel team of traders against the then-official panel of the association. Now, having joined the official panel and contested with Mohan's support, Tharyan won with 93 votes. He defeated his opponent, V Unnikkannan from Palakkad, by a margin of 10 votes.
V Anvar, proprietor of Swapna Medicals in Kunnamkulam, Thrissur district, has been unanimously re-elected to the post of treasurer for another term. He has held various positions within the association for several years.
The association also elected three vice-presidents and three joint secretaries. K T Renjith from Kozhikode, P Dileep Kumar from Palakkad, and J Jayanarayanan Thampi from Thiruvananthapuram were elected as the new vice-presidents. Meanwhile, former general secretary LR Jayaraj was appointed joint secretary for the South Zone. OM Abdul Jaleel from Ernakulam will serve as the joint secretary for the Central Zone, and Nazar Arakkal from Kannur will cover the North Zone.
The new office-bearers were elected in the general council meeting held on June 29 at Hotel Abad Plaza in Ernakulam.
Prior to the election, a discussion on various trade issues faced by pharmaceutical businesses led to a significant resolution. The association passed a motion demanding that manufacturing companies should restrict expiry drug settlements exclusively to its members. According to the AKCDA, Indian drug manufacturing companies agreed to take back expired drugs from wholesalers and retailers only after prolonged demands and business strikes held by AKCDA and other state Chemists and Druggists Association (CDA) members. However, non-member traders are now benefiting from this settlement, who, according to the association, work against the interests of traditional drug traders by giving huge discounts on medicines.
Prashanth Kumar, proprietor of Town Medicals in Puthoor, Kollam district, presented the resolution, stating that discount pharmacies and chain pharmacies are primarily drawing the benefits of these expiry settlements, directly impacting the traditional chemists' community. Therefore, the association should discuss the matter with the national trade body, the All India Organisation of Chemists and Druggists (AIOCD), to urge manufacturing companies to restrict the withdrawal of expired medicines solely to members of the Chemists and Druggists Association, and not to take them back from the discount pharmacies.
However, some senior trade leaders countered that certain wholesalers, despite being AKCDA members, were clandestinely supplying medicines to discount pharmacies. These wholesalers, they argued, must cease such business activities and actively work against the unethical practices of discount and corporate chain pharmacies.
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