Bitter pill: Clogs in supply causing shortage of medicines, packaged consumables in city

Packaged snacks, biscuits and certain medicines have disappeared from shelves of stores in the city market since a 21-day lockdown was put in place by Prime Minister

Packaged snacks, biscuits and certain medicines have disappeared from shelves of stores in the city market since a 21-day lockdown was put in place by Prime Minister Narendra Modi to check the spread of Covid-19.

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According to pharmacists, medicines are not available in ample quantities at the stores. They, however, maintained that the shortage was because of distribution problems and they will be able to replenish their stock as soon as they obtain curfew passes and are able to send their staff to fetch more consignments.

Similarly, grocery store owners stated that items — such as biscuits, instant noodles, namkeen, packed juice, tomato puree, and soft drinks — were either out of stock or witnessing a curtailed supply in view of the lockdown. Lack of curfew passes with distributors, they said, was one of the essential reasons for supply trucks being held up at Delhi borders.

However, traders maintained that the supply and availability of essential items such as milk, rice, flour, cooking oil, pulses, and vegetables, among others, was ample.

Many pharmacists in the city on Sunday said supplies started drying up immediately after the lockdown came into force.

“On the day the lockdown was announced, a lot of people indulged in panic buying and stocked up on essential medicines in large quantities. Now we are not receiving supplies from our distributors,” said Tarun Chawla of Mediworld Pharmacy in Kailash Colony.

To deal with this situation, some pharmacies have started to cap the amount of medicine they sell to a customer at a time. Shikhar Gupta, of 3G Chemist in Defence Colony, said, “Soon after the lockdown was announced by the Prime Minister, many customers started coming to us asking for stock that would last them anything from six months to one year. Those who have the money can purchase in bulk. But what about those who can’t? We have decided not to give more than two strips of medicine to anyone,” he said.

Sandeep Nangia, president of All India Organisation of Chemists and Druggists, said that there is no shortage of medicines in Delhi. “This present situation is because either the distributors do not have curfew passes or sufficient staff. We have requested all pharmacists to send their staff or come personally to collect the stock. We do not have a shortage of medicines. We are facing difficulties in distributing it,” he said.

A similar situation was witnessed at grocery stores in different parts of the city.

Traders said that even though essential items are available, certain commodities were disappearing from the shelves because of a lack of proper supply. “Namkeen, noodles, and biscuits may not be essential commodities, but these have become the most sold consumable items during the lockdown. Sunday was the fifth day of the lockdown, but the supply of many of these items has been irregular because distributors are yet to get passes for delivery. Hence, these items are not reaching the stores,” said Navankur Dhama, a trader in east Delhi’s Laxmi Nagar.

Some retailers also said that they themselves were collecting stock from the distributors.

A grocery supermarket owner in Model Town, Paramveeer Bagga, said that this was happening because not every vendor or distributor has got e-passes. He explained that earlier distributors used to deliver their items directly at grocery stores. But, things have changed ever since the lockdown was enforced.

“We ourselves have to lift the goods from distributors as many of them are yet to get passes. In many cases, trucks of suppliers are held up at borders outside Delhi, so the supply is not regular. We are hoping to get it streamlined in a couple of days,” Bagga said.

Delhi’s food and civil supplies minister Imran Hussain assured that there was enough stock of essential as well as other items and the government has been making efforts to streamline the distribution.

“There is no need to panic as we are making all possible efforts to ensure proper supply of goods. We are issuing passes to ensure the smooth delivery of items. The situation will streamline in a few days when all the suppliers get passes for distribution,” Hussain said.

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