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Punjab’s only government ayurvedic pharmacy in a shambles
Government Ayurvedic Pharmacy and Stores situated on Press Road, Lahori gate in Patiala, presents a picture of apathy
Government Ayurvedic Pharmacy and Stores situated on Press Road, Lahori gate in Patiala, presents a picture of apathy. Battling staff crunch a visitor is welcomed to cracked walls and roofs, termite-eaten doors and windows, rusting door-frames, old furniture and flaking paint on walls. In 2022, the Public Works Department (PWD) inspected and declared some of the rooms unsafe.
A PWD team, in its report, said, “The rainwater accumulates inside the building of the pharmacy because it has a lower plinth level from the road outside it. The iron bars/rods inside the ceiling and other areas are visible because the concrete has lost its grip.” The committee declared several rooms, including that of the superintendent as “unsafe and can’t be repaired.”
An official, who did not wish to be named, said, “It’s a big risk to sit inside a room here.”
The plaque in the pharmacy states that the foundation stone was laid by the then-health minister of Punjab, Chaudhary Suraj Mal, on March 23, 1958. It was then known as ‘Government Ayurvedic & Unani Pharmacy, Patiala’. Before 1997, the pharmacy was under the directorate of Ayurveda but in 2011, it came under the department of medical education and research.
“The pharmacy is suffering because it is oscillating between two departments-- the directorate of Ayurveda and the department of medical education and research. It is an asset to the state because the medicines prepared here are cost-effective and of superior quality. Government must hand it over to only one department,” the official said.
The pharmacy caters to 507 ayurvedic dispensaries, 6 ayurvedic hospitals, 14 Indian medicine system (IMS) wings, 17 swasthya kendras, 12 speciality clinics and one Panchakarma centre in Mohali.
The students of Government Ayurvedic College, Patiala, also train here. The present strength of the pharmacy is 33. “There are over 70 sanctioned posts. Some of these employees will be retiring soon. The posts of pharmacy preparer (PP supervises labourers), clerk, mechanic and superintendent grade 2 are vacant,” the official said.
The pharmacy is also mismanaged and in 2021-22, ₹40 lakh was given under the raw material and supplies budget only ₹3 lakh was utilized. “We are also grappling with old machines. Two tablet-making machines are not working. They were purchased in 1975,” the official said.
Dr Avnish Kumar, the director, department of medical education and research, said, “I don’t have the figures right now but we do release funds from time to time. We had given money for the Ayurvedic College and hospital. We treat pharmacy, college and hospital as one entity.”
Dr Balbir Singh, a medical education and research minister, said, “We have a roadmap for the pharmacy and the Government Ayurvedic College also. The pharmacy will stay in Patiala.”
