About DCGI

• Drugs Controller General of India (DCGI) is the head of department of the Central Drugs Standard Control Organization of the Government of India responsible for approval of licences of specified categories of drugs such as blood and blood products, IV fluids, vaccines, and sera in India.
• Drugs Controller General of India comes under the Ministry of Health & Family Welfare.
• DCGI also sets standards for manufacturing, sales, import, and distribution of drugs in India.
• DCGI lays down the standard and quality of manufacturing, selling, import and distribution of drugs in India.

Other Functions

• Acting as appellate authority in case of any dispute regarding the quality of drugs.
• Preparation and maintenance of national reference standards.
• To bring about the uniformity in the enforcement of the Drugs and Cosmetics Act.
• Training of Drug Analysts deputed by State Drug Control Laboratories and other Institutions
• Analysis of Cosmetics received as survey samples from CDSCO.

Why in News:

• Covishield, the vaccine candidate from Pune-based Serum Institute of India, was approved by a Subject Expert Committee (SEC) of the Drug Controller General of India.

Reference:

1. https://www.thehindu.com/news/national/coronavirus-serum-institute-of-indias-covid-19-vaccine-covishield-likely-to-be-approved-for-emergency-use-in-india/article33472324.ece