Mumbai, July 11: The chemist and drugs association of Maharashtra has called a protest march on July 16 at Mumbai's Food and Drugs Administration office (FDA)  against the 'illegal' sale of medicines through online medium. Prasad Danave, the president of the Retail and Dispensing Chemist Association, confirmed this and told LatestLY that on July 16 at around 3 pm, the chemists will gather at Bandra Kalanagar signal and walk to the FDA office to mark their objection over the rising sale of drugs and medicine on e-sites.

Raising concern over the sale of drugs without a prescription, Danave added that due to the absence of law, and no clarity over the online sale of drugs, the chemists are suffering the most. "Right now the e-sites are easily selling the medicines including pills for abortion and other medicines," he said. Furthermore, even on TV channels, several fake companies are selling the medicinal products, with no fear of government, lawmakers, he said. "Hence, a law should be brought which will give justice to the chemists and will also stop the illegal sale of drugs and medicines," he added.

At present in Mumbai, there are total 6,000 chemist shops, and across the state, there are a total of 70,000 chemist shops, which give employment to around 1.5 lakh people. The association earlier, too, met the FDA officials with the same demand and presented a memorandum, however, the demand went unheard. This time the association has decided that they will once again take a protest march and if no action is taken then a statewide strike will be called after a unanimous decision. In the protest, chemist retailers from Mumbai, Thane, Navi Mumbai, Raigad regions will be supported by chemists from across the state. Besides this, on July 16, no chemist shops will be kept closed to avoid any inconvenience.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Jul 11, 2018 02:34 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).