5 Feb: In a major development, the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) has directed the Ministry of Ayush to address complaints against Baba Ramdev’s Patanjali Ayurved, for multiple violations of the Drugs and Magic Remedies (Objectionable Advertisements) Act, 1954. This Act specifically deals with misleading advertisements related to Ayush products.
The PMO issued this directive on January 24, prompting the Ministry of Ayush to instruct the Uttarakhand Ayush department to take appropriate action regarding this issue, which had been pending since February 2022. The complaint revolved around Patanjali Ayurved’s misleading advertisements for its products targeting diabetes, obesity, thyroid disorders, and heart diseases.
Despite numerous Right to Information (RTI) queries on this matter, both the Ministry of Ayush and the Uttarakhand State Licensing Authority (SLA) had been slow to respond. In response to the PMO’s directive, the Ministry of Ayush penned a letter to the Director of Ayurvedic and Unani Services in Dehradun, Uttarakhand. The letter emphasized that the matter pertained to continuous violations of the Drugs and Magic Remedies (Objectionable Advertisements) Act, 1954, by Divya Pharmacy, falling under the jurisdiction of the State Licensing Authority in Uttarakhand.
Dated February 2, 2023, the letter requested the Uttarakhand SLA to “examine the matter and take the necessary action as deemed appropriate and inform your response to the applicant under intimation to this ministry.”
The development came after RTI activist Dr. K V Babu filed a complaint with the PMO on January 15, highlighting Patanjali Ayurved’s repeated violations of the DMR (OA) Act, 1954. Dr. Babu expressed gratitude for the prompt intervention by the PMO and hoped that it would put an end to Patanjali Ayurved’s illegal advertising practices.
Dr. Babu had filed complaints with various authorities, including the Drugs Controller General of India (DCGI), the Union Ministry of Ayush, and the Uttarakhand SLA, since February 2022. He stressed that despite multiple communications and numerous contraventions of the Magic Remedies Act by Patanjali Ayurved, the Uttarakhand SLA had not taken any action.
Earlier, the Union Ayush Minister, Sarbanand Sonowal informed that the Ministry of Ayush had previously forwarded advertisements for Divya Madhugrit (15 violations), Divya Lipidom (7 violations), Divya Eyegrit Gold (10 violations), and Divya BPgrit (18 violations) to Ayurveda and Unani Services in Uttarakhand in 2022 for examination and potential withdrawal of advertisements.
