Union Cabinet approves re-establishing of Pharmacopoeia Commission for Indian Medicine and Homoeopathy

Aimed at optimal use of infrastructural facilities and resources, the Union Cabinet on Wednesday gave its approval to re-establish the Pharmacopoeia Commission for Indian Medicine and Homoeopathy as subordinate office under the Ministry of AYUSH by merging into it two central laboratories.

The two laboratories are Pharmacopoeia Laboratory for Indian Medicine (PLIM) and Homoeopathic Pharmacopoeia Laboratory (HPL).

The merger is aimed at optimising the use of infrastructural facilities, technical manpower and financial resources of the three organizations for enhancing the standardisation outcomes of Ayurveda, Siddha, Unani and Homoeopathy drugs towards their effective regulation and quality control, the statement said.

At present, the Pharmacopoeia Commission for Indian Medicine and Homoeopathy (PCIM&H) is an autonomous body under the aegis of Ministry of AYUSH established since 2010.

"This merger will facilitate focused and cohesive development of standards of AYUSH drugs and publication of pharmacopoeias and formularies," the statement said.

"It is also intended to accord legal status to the merged structure of PCIM&H and its laboratory by virtue of making necessary amendments and enabling provisions in the Drugs and Cosmetics Rules, 1945,” it said.

Consultation in this regard has been done with the Director General Health Services, Drugs Controller General and Ayurveda, Siddha and Unani Drugs Technical Advisory Board (ASUDTAB), which is a statutory body under provisions of the Drugs and Cosmetics Act, 1940 meant for advising central and state governments in regulatory matters of ASLT drugs.

The Department of Expenditure in the Ministry of Finance has concurred the proposal of realigning the posts and hierarchical structure of the merged organisations.

Post-merger the PCIM&H will have adequate administrative structure under the ministry to strive for augmenting the capacity and outcomes of pharmacopoeial work, preventing duplication and overlapping of drug standardisation work and optimal utilisation of resources in effective manner, the statement said.