BENGALURU: Despite a nationwide bandh call by pharmacy associations protesting against online medicine sales and abnormal discounting by e-pharmacy platforms, a majority of medical shops across Karnataka remained operational on Wednesday, according to the Karnataka Drugs Control Department.
Dr Umesh Shantharaj, Additional Drugs Controller, Karnataka, said around 70–80% of the state’s nearly 44,000 medical sales establishments continued operations to ensure uninterrupted access to medicines and prevent hardship to patients.
“Major chain stores remained open. Several pharmacies also wore black ribbons as symbolic support for the protest while continuing services,” he said. The department said it had made extensive preparations ahead of the bandh after receiving prior information from pharmacy associations.
Dr Shantharaj said the department’s Commissioner K Srinivas, had directed district officers to monitor the situation and coordinate with local authorities.
“He also wrote to all Superintendents of Police and Deputy Commissioners across the state to ensure there were no law-and-order issues and that patients did not face difficulties in obtaining medicines,” Dr Shantharaj said.
Officials received only a few isolated complaints from people unable to locate open pharmacies, particularly in Belagavi. “Absolutely no untoward incidents happened today. Since 70–80% of shops were open, people did not face serious hardship,” Dr Shantharaj added.
Meanwhile, pharmacy associations claimed the protest received widespread support across Karnataka. Ramesh Babu, secretary of the Bengaluru Pharma Retailers & Distributors Forum, said over 26,000 retail pharmacies participated in the bandh across the state. “In Bengaluru alone, around 2,800 shops remained closed. Rural districts saw nearly 95% participation,” he said. However, hospital and emergency services were largely unaffected. According to Babu, more than 800 hospital and nursing home pharmacies in Bengaluru remained operational.
Protesters argued that online medicine sales could lead to misuse of old prescriptions and easy access to sedatives and habit-forming drugs without proper verification. Babu said the associations would wait for the government’s response before deciding further action. He warned that if concerns remain unresolved within a month, they may begin an indefinite strike.