Usha Sharma – Mumbai
In order to keep pace with current technology trends, Karnataka Drugs Control Department will launch an e-governance software application to its system. The software, which is likely to be launched on November 1, 2012, has been adopted from Gujarat FDCA and has been modified as per its requirements.
In an interaction with Express Pharma, Dr Jagashetty, Drug Controller Karnataka said, “In order to make day-to-day activities more convenient, transparent and bring in more accountability, we are in the process of enabling the software in our department within the system. Trials are currently being conducted and we hope to launch it by November 1, 2012.”
The software has been developed by Gujarat FDCA and helps track substandard drugs with a view to ensure safety of consumers/patients. This software was internally developed with the help of National Informatics Centre (NIC) of Gujarat. This was initiated by the Gujarat FDCA drug regulatory body in association with the NIC under its e-governance programme.
The e-governance initiative with the help of NIC and Gujarat FDCA has developed XLN-Extended licensing and laboratory node. The software-based system has integrated all the functions of FDCA and has networked all the district offices, laboratories with the headquarters. This has streamlined licensing activities and increased the speed of processing applications very significantly. It also provides a transparent interface with the applicants irrespective of their physical location to monitor the status of their applications.
“This software will help Karnataka-based pharma companies to get better clarity about the system but we are modifying it as per our requirement,” added Jagashetty.