Bhubaneswar: A medicine sellers' association has threatened to go on an indefinite strike in protest against the government's decision to close down three medical stores on the MKCG Medical College and Hospital premises on January 10.

Health care services will be adversely affected if the strike takes place with the Utkal Chemist and Druggist Association having nearly 15,000 members.

General secretary of the association Prasanta Kumar Jena said the government was not taking steps to resolve the problems faced by the chemists and druggists of the state. He said: "We would like to appeal to the government to look into the issues or we will resort to a bandh in protest against the injustice."

The association members are peeved because they claim that the Berhampur district administration arbitrarily closed three shops operating at the MKCG hospital on January 10.

"The authorities have neither given the seizure list nor explained the reason for their action," said Jena, adding all the shops had valid licences.

"These shops sell life-saving drugs, and hundreds of families depend on them. The administration closing these shops in such an arbitrary manner is highly condemnable," said association president P. Satyanarayan.

The association is also demanding that the state government make efforts to stop the online sale of drugs and oppose the upcoming move of the Centre to lunch an e-portal to sell medicines.

"There are many places and people who do not have access to the Internet and the e-portal scheme of the government will not make things easy, especially in the rural belt," said Satyanarayan.