NEW DELHI: India’s effort to keep unsafe medicines out of the market is facing a staff crunch, even as enforcement against fake and substandard drugs has increased, the health ministry told Parliament. At the central level, 249 drug inspector posts are vacant — a concern because inspectors play a critical role in checking drug factories, retail markets and supply chains. Vacancies at the state level are filled by respective state governments.A clearer picture of the manpower gap has emerged from RTI information received in October, which shows that the Central Drugs Standard Control Organisation (CDSCO) has 504 sanctioned posts across its regulatory and medical divisions. Of these, 419 posts are in the regulatory division and 85 in the medical devices division.The RTI data reveal that 187 regulatory posts are vacant — about 45% of the sanctioned strength — while 63 posts in the medical devices division are unfilled, translating to a vacancy rate of nearly 74%. Overall, 249 of the 504 sanctioned posts, or roughly 49%, remain vacant.Despite fewer inspectors on the ground, drug surveillance has expanded steadily. During 2024–25, laboratories across the country tested 1,16,323 drug samples, the highest in three years. Of these, 3,104 samples failed quality standards, while 245 were confirmed as spurious or adulterated, indicating that unsafe medicines continue to circulate despite tighter monitoring.This has been a recurring issue. In 2022–23, testing agencies detected 424 spurious or adulterated samples, which declined to 282 in 2023–24 and 245 in 2024–25. While the fall suggests stronger enforcement, the consistently high number of drugs found not of standard quality — around 3,000 every year — points to persistent gaps in manufacturing compliance.Testing capacity remains uneven, with 68 state drug testing laboratories across the country, many states operating with just one lab, and the Andaman & Nicobar Islands having none. These are supported by 15 central drug testing laboratories run by the CDSCO.Despite staff and infrastructure gaps, enforcement has intensified. Prosecutions for spurious and adulterated medicines rose to 961 in 2024–25, up from 604 the previous year, while over 960 drug manufacturing units have been inspected since December 2022, leading to licence suspensions, cancellations and stop-production orders.
