Chemists in Maharashtra call off 2-day strike

Mumbai: Chemists in the State have called off their two-day strike following a slew of high-level meetings till late night on Monday.

The strike had been called to protest a guideline introduced by the State's Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in December last year. The FDA sought to regulate the trade through the new guideline, but chemist associations complained that it was 'draconian', as it threatened to cancel the licences for minor administrative lapses.

Chemist associations called off the strike following meetings with the Chief Minister Mr Vilasrao Deshmukh, Ministers, Mr Baba Siddiqui, Mr Manohar Naik, and the FDA chief and other secretaries.