New Delhi/ Hyderabad: ‘Make in India’ enthusiasts of Indian Medical Devices Industry are in for a rude shock as Andhra Pradesh government has removed Dr Jitendra Sharma, MD of AMTZ, who was being looked at as ‘E. Sridharan’ of Medical devices. Dr Sharma too had a penchant for completing the work just in time or well before time as Metro man was reputed for.
The political decision of incumbent CM Jagan Reddy to do away with official close to Ex CM Chandrababu Naidu is seen as inflicting irreparable damage on the prospect of making of medical devices in India.
The tremors of this jolt have been felt throughout India and the bright prospect of making medical devices in India have become bleak. The new man in IAS Kartikeyan Mishra does not inspire much. AMTZ ( Andhra Med Tech Zone) and Kalam Institute of Healthcare Technology under Sharma’s stewardship were looked at as torchbearer of ‘Make in India’ in the realm of medical devices.
Mr Rajiv Nath, Forum Coordinator AiMeD (Association of Indian Medical Device Industry), is shocked at this development and says,
‘The sudden removal of Dr Jitender Sharmaji is a gross oversight by GoAP , a huge setback to Make in Andhra & Make in India for Medical Devices and will de-motivate Industry from rest of India to be shy to venture into AP as industry seeks continuity and a predictable policy environment.’
‘There are few Officers in Govt ( eg Metro Man Mr E. Sreedharan) who are able to inspire as Dr Sharma did to congregate policy Makers , Political Heads , Start ups, Industry Bodies , Academia, Scientists , Engineers &!Product Developers, Regulators & even the Global Medical Community to congregate to Vizag to join forces with Dr Sharma and his team in doing the impossible jaw dropping feat of creating a Med Tech Park in a barren land in less than a year,’ adds Mr Nath.
AiMeD has been pushing for making India into a Manufacturing Hub for Medical Devices and the last 5 years witnessed significant development in the Medical Devices Sector by various Ministries of the Govt. – both at the Central and the State Govt. focusing on this earlier neglected Sector having realized its huge potential to become the next success story after IT & Pharma.
The experimental steps taken to establish the Andhra Pradesh Med Tech Park as a front runner, for establishment of Kalam Institute of Healthcare Technology, correction of Inverted Duty Structure for some Devices, Price Caps on Stents and Knee Implants, QCI’s Indian Certification for Medical Devices, ICMR’s Essential List of Diagnostics and most recently establishment of Medical Device Promotion Council and Indian Biomedical Skill Consortium are some of the notable achievements of last 5 years in Med Tech space – all of which were either initiated or substantially supported by Dr Jitender Sharma .
Dr Sharma had been instrumental in putting Andhra Pradesh on the global map as a hub for the manufacture of Medical devices. Dr Sharma founded AMTZ from concept to completion and progress and was earlier the Health Advisor to CM Andhra Govt. Dr. Sharma had been instrumental in establishing and Kalam Institute of Healthcare Technology Andhra Med Tech Zone which today has made the whole world look upon Andhra Pradesh as an investment destination for the manufacture of medical devices. Dr. Sharma was called the Medtech Man of India.
