The Drugs Consultative Committee (DCC), a key advisory body under the Central Drugs Standard Control Organisation (CDSCO), has raised serious concerns over growing non-compliance at hospital-based blood centres and called for stronger enforcement of the Drugs Rules to ensure a safe blood supply nationwide.
States Told to Intensify Inspections
In its latest meeting, the DCC directed states, including Maharashtra, to conduct periodic inspections of all blood centres including those housed in government hospitals with special focus on transfusion-transmissible infections (TTI) testing using ELISA and other viral marker screening protocols.
The committee also reminded states that National Blood Transfusion Council (NBTC) procedures must be strictly followed when recommending licences for charitable and voluntary organisations operating blood centres.
States have been sensitised to these lapses, and the DCC has committed to taking all necessary steps to improve compliance and regulatory oversight across the country.
Maharashtra Inspections Reveal Deep Systemic Failures
The urgency behind the directive is reinforced by recent findings in Maharashtra. An extensive inspection drive launched in 2025 by the State Blood Transfusion Council (SBTC) and the state health department uncovered multiple systemic failures. District-level officials were instructed to carry out comprehensive audits of blood banks and submit detailed reports within a month, signalling long-standing weaknesses in monitoring systems.
Licences Suspended Over Serious Violations
In the past year, dozens of blood banks in the Pune division and other regions had their licences suspended or revoked by the Food and Drug Administration, Maharashtra (FDA).
Inspections found grave violations, including:
Absence of qualified Blood Transfusion Officers
Poorly maintained cold-chain storage
Unhygienic preservation practices
Inadequate testing infrastructure
Mumbai Blood Banks Under Scrutiny
In Mumbai, the SBTC flagged several government-run blood banks for failing to meet minimum annual blood-collection norms. Some lacked component separation units essential for preparing red cells, plasma and platelets forcing hospitals to depend solely on whole blood, a major setback for modern transfusion medicine.
DCC Seeks Timely Licence Renewals
To prevent further lapses, the DCC emphasised time-bound processing of licence renewal applications so that blood centres remain fully compliant with regulatory standards without procedural delays.
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