Heat on 140 shops for sale of abortion drugs in Thane

  THANE: Nearly 140 pharmaceutical shops in Thane , Raigad and Ratnagiri districts have been slapped with a show cause notice by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for the sale of pregnancy terminating medicines without prescription from doctors .

The FDA is conducting surprise checks on pharmaceutical shops, to verify stocks and account books that are maintained by distributors to assess sale of abortion drugs . The drive comes in the wake of female foeticide cases being unearthed in Beed and other areas of the state .

State authorities too have stepped up vigil on radiologists and abortion clinics . Recently , the FDA's region-wise raids led to the arrest of two fake doctors who were running clinics in Bhiwandi .The FDA team has scrutinized sale records of 288 pharmaceutical shops in the recent past and found that 140 could not account for the sale of abortion medicines ,it is learnt .

The FDA inspection has also revealed that quite a few medical stores were involved in selling huge quantities of cough syrups, Corex or Rexcough , without prescriptions . FDA officials said licences of 29 shops have been suspended pending inquiry .

Akshaya Tritiya - Hopes for Businesses

Realtors from the city are expecting a boost in the business this Akshay Tritiya. Thanks to the 0.5% cut in the interest rates by the Reserve Bank of India and stagnant property prices for the last few months. 


Apart from Akshay Tritiya being an auspicious day, the cut in the interest rate seems to add up to the sale of property on this occasion. Shailesh Puranik from Puranik Builders stated, “Akshay Tritiya is one of the three and half muhurat day and is considered auspicious for buying new assets. People wait for this day to make the bookings. And this time with the cut in the interest rate after three years, it is going to add to the business.” Puranik Builders have their project in Thane, Mulund, Dombivli, Neral, Lonavala and Pune. 


Meanwhile, Jitendra Mehta from Mehta Realtors, Thane also believes that this is the best period to buy the property. “Not just the interest rates are reduced but also the prices of real estate have remained stagnant for the last four to six months. If the property is not booked now, then the price will once again be at peak and then it would become difficult to buy any property,” explained Mehta. 


However, a real estate agent from the city Rakesh Kapoor feels that there will be hardly any business on Akshay Tritiya. “The RBI has just announced the cut, but banks have to still adopt this new change in interest rate. Also, the high property prices and the changes is loan procedure is become a hurdle in buying property,” Kapoor said. 

Even the buyer feels the same. Sandeep Devan, a buyer said, “I am in hunt of a property since last one year. The rates are so high and the lengthy procedures of bank have made difficult to buy a property. Although the news of cut in interest rate has brought relief, but it will be actually good news when it is brought to implementation. Till then it’s not easy.”


Courtesy: DNA

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