TOBA TEK SINGH/KASUR/SADIQABAD-The medical stores across Toba, Kasur and Sadiqabad remained closed on third consecutive day on Saturday on the call of local chemists and druggists associations (CDAs).
Toba CDA president Mian Imran Manzoor told the media that the strike would continue till an indefinite period of time. He termed Drug Act 2017 a black law under which the departments concerned were sealing the medical stores on different pretexts. "It will bring no good except giving rise to unemployment in the country," he said. He demanded that the government should stop action against the medical stores.
In Kasur, the druggists observed a complete shutdown on third consecutive day on the call of Kasur Chemists Association and Bulleh Shah Druggists and Chemists Association. The medical stores remained closed the whole day. The owners of the medical stores displayed banners and placards outside their shops inscribed with their demands. They also protested against Drug Act 2017, saying they did not accept an act which rendered hundreds of thousands of people jobless. They demanded that the government should amend the act. Patients, on the other hand, suffered a great deal of inconvenience due to strike by the druggists.
In Sadiqabad, druggists across the tehsil kept their stores shut against Drug Act 2017. The strike was observed on the call of South Punjab Chemists Association (SPCA).
During a media talk, SPCA president Zahoor Ahmed Kazmi, tehsil president Zulfiqar Ali, general secretary Mehmood Ahmed and other office-bearers said that the government intended economic murder of the druggists. They said that the strike would continue for an indefinite period of time.
They urged the government to amend the drug act.