Telangana Drug Authority Reports 42,420 Inspections, 186 NSQ Drugs Between 2024-2025, Minister Orders Action
NSQ Drugs
Hyderabad: The Drug Control Authority (DCA) of Telangana has intensified its enforcement drive, conducting over 42,000 inspections in the last 19 months and flagging 186 medicines as Not of Standard Quality (NSQ). Between January 2024 and July 2025, nearly 7,200 drug samples were tested, leading to the registration of about 700 legal cases.
Presenting these figures during a review meeting held at the Indian Institute of Health and Wellness Centre, Vengal Rao Nagar, DCA Director General Shanawaz Qasim detailed the authority’s performance. He reported that in 2024 alone, 25,939 inspections were carried out, resulting in action against 4,142 organisations. From January to July 2025, another 16,481 inspections took place, with regulatory action initiated against 2,827 organisations.
Against this backdrop of heightened activity, Telangana Health Minister Damodar Rajanarsimha issued strict directions to the DCA to crack down further on violators. Expressing concern over misleading medicine advertisements and the circulation of spurious drugs, he underlined that no compromise would be made when public health is at stake. “The government will act strictly to provide quality medicine and quality food to the public,” the Minister declared.
Rajanarsimha instructed the authority to ensure that offenders are prosecuted and punished swiftly, and that repeat offenders face permanent closure. He further suggested invoking the Preventive Detention (PD) Act in cases involving counterfeit and banned medicines. The Minister also called for stronger checks to prevent the sale of antibiotics without prescription and to curb the distribution of narcotic-inducing medicines.
To build stronger regulatory capacity, the Health Minister directed that the state’s drug testing laboratories be upgraded and the recruitment of more drug inspectors be expedited. DCA officials echoed this need, pointing out that enforcement teams face increasing pressure due to rising case volumes.
“The legal battles are long and it takes time to prove. Till then, we find that there are other spurious manufacturers in the state. People are often not aware, and it is the innocents who often fall prey to counterfeit and substandard medicines. This, in many cases, is also the reason for health complications in lifestyle diseases. There are also cases of death reported due to spurious drugs,” a senior DCA official explained. told the News Meter
