Will the Minister of HEALTH AND FAMILY WELFARE be pleased to state:
(a) whether the central testing laboratories are overburdened and currently are incapable of managing and testing all the receiving samples from the States/UTs and if so, the details thereof;
(b) whether the Government is planning to increase the capacities of currently existing central testing laboratories and planning to establish new testing laboratories; and
(c) if so, the action taken by the Government thereon so far?
THE MINISTER OF HEALTH AND FAMILY WELFARE
(SHRI JAGAT PRAKASH NADDA)
(a): The Central drug testing laboratories mainly test samples drawn by Central Drugs Standard Control Organization. However, in a few cases, these laboratories have also been authoriesed to test samples drawn by State Regulators. These labs are fully equipped and have the capacity to test all such samples. In case of food, sufficient capacity has been created for testing samples in the Government and private laboratories.
(b) & (c): A proposal to strengthen the Central drugs regulatory structures, both enforcement and labs, costing Rs. 900 crores has been approved by the Government.