The impact of the countrywide medical strike was severely felt across Gujarat, with healthcare retail systems grinding to a partial halt. In Ahmedabad alone, medical stores remained completely closed, leaving routine buyers scrambling for essential supplies. The massive shutdown comes as part of a nationwide chemist strike organized by the All India Organisation of Chemists and Druggists (AIOCD), protesting against the unregulated operations of digital e-pharmacies and corporate medicine delivery apps.
According to local pharmacy unions, more than 35,000 medical stores across Gujarat remained closed, including over 3,000 retail chemist outlets within Ahmedabad city boundaries. While hospital-attached pharmacies and emergency counters stayed operational to handle critical cases, neighborhood retail markets observed a total strike.
The Core Issues: Why Chemists Are Protesting
The primary grievance of traditional brick-and-mortar chemists centers on the sudden explosion of unregulated e-pharmacy networks that operate within legal loopholes. Retail traders are raising alarms over several distinct threats impacting both public health and small-business survival.
1. Predatory Pricing and Unfair Competition
Local store owners are facing intense market imbalances due to corporate digital platforms offering unsustainable discounts ranging from 20% to over 50%. Neighborhood pharmacists argue that large corporate entities pump deep profits into these digital apps to undercut physical retail prices, creating an unlevel playing field that acts as a death knell for small retail businesses.
Must read, Who is Abhijeet Dipke? Meet the Cockroach Janta Party Founder
2. The Rising Threat of Fake AI-Generated Prescriptions
The most dangerous trend highlighted by the AIOCD is the widespread misuse of modern technology to bypass strict healthcare checks. Rogue buyers and unauthorized platforms are allegedly leveraging advanced Artificial Intelligence (AI) tools to fabricate highly realistic, fake medical prescriptions.
“AI technology is being actively misused to generate fraudulent doctor sheets,” a senior member of the Ahmedabad Chemists Association noted. “This allows habit-forming narcotics, critical sleeping pills, and restricted antibiotics to be ordered online with zero physical verification, leading to dangerous drug abuse among the younger generation.”
Demand for Regulatory Reforms
Traditional chemists are demanding that the Central Government immediately withdraw two major notifications. The one clause was originally introduced as a temporary relaxation during the COVID-19 pandemic to permit door-to-door medicine delivery. However, chemists argue that e-pharmacy conglomerates continue to exploit this emergency relaxation years after the pandemic has passed, avoiding the strict verification protocols that physical pharmacies must follow under regular Indian drug laws.
The pharmacy associations have warned that if the Drug Controller General of India (DCGI) and the Ministry of Health do not establish a strict, uniform regulatory framework to monitor online prescription verifications and pricing models, they will escalate the one-day shutdown into an indefinite nationwide agitation.
Also read, Cockroach Janta Party – The Viral Digital Movement Taking India by Storm
Watch Latest News Videos on KRH News: Click Here