Drug protest rocks RIMS

300 stockists stage sit-in

Members of the Manipur Chemists and Druggists Association stage a demonstration on Friday. Picture by Eastern Projections Imphal, Oct. 17 : Three hundred medicine storeowners today staged a sit-in in front of the Regional Institute of Medical Sciences demanding closure of two stores opened on the hospital campus two months ago, fearing monopoly of drugs sale in the area. The medical superintendent of the institute, Y. Mohen Singh, however, said the demand was unreasonable and there was no question of closing the two stores on the campus. The institute opened two medicine stores two months’ ago after inviting tenders to “facilitate” patients in procuring medicine easily and at “subsidised rates”. Mohen said anybody buying medicines from these two stores are getting a 10 per cent discount. There is a 12 per cent discount for people with below poverty line cards and 15 per cent discount for cancer patients. Besides, buying medicines from these shops also saves valuable time. “We are taking minimal rent from the two stores. Our objective is to make medicine available easily and at discounted rates. The institute does not get any benefit from opening the two counters. It is purely for the benefit of the patients. If the patients say they do not want medicines on discounts, we will be happy to close the two stores,” Mohen said. The Manipur Chemists and Druggists Association charged that opening the two stores on the hospital campus was an attempt to monopolise the medicine business by RIMS in the garb of discounts. The standoff reached a flashpoint today when all the stockists in the state cut off supplies to the two medicine stores. They are now procuring medicines from outside the state.