"Nearly 50,000 members of the MSCDA will shut their shops from today midnight till the midnight of October 18 to protest against the malpractices by the FDA," Association President Jagannath Shinde told PTI.
The association is still awaiting a positive response from the Maharashtra government and is open for talks, Shinde added.
Despite several meetings and memorandums submitted with the FDA, Shinde claimed the association had not been able to resolve issues like suspending or cancelling of licences and filing of criminal cases against chemists.
They should not be held responsible to check the authenticity of the prescription brought by patients, Shinde added.
"Hence, we have lost our patience over the subject. The government and the regulator will be responsible for any inconvenience caused to the public," he said.
The association had called off a similar strike call earlier in July following assurances from various departments and ministers that inquiries will be conducted only in cases where mistakes were made by chemists.
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They were also assured that no FIR would be lodged against any chemist without properly verifying their role in the misdeed. However, he claimed the FDA had intensified its action and was harassing pharmacists even if they were not available in the shop for medical reasons.
"Despite several memorandums, the FDA has not changed the norms and hence the association has conveyed the matter to Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan and other cabinet ministers and are forced to down their shutter to highlight our grievances," Shinde said.
The association has called for a re-consideration of the FDA norms on compassionate grounds so as to improve health care delivery mechanism in the state.