Mongpu (Kurseong), Aug. 9: The Government Emetine Factory situated here, around 45 km from Siliguri, is faced with the threat of closure. The unit is the only one of its kind in the country and was set up in 1982.

Emetine, a compound prepared from the bark of the ipecac plant, is the primary constituent in a number of anti-emetic and anti-amoebic drugs used to treat intestinal disorders.

The factory, which has a plantation on its premises, produces 120 kg of the medicinal compound annually. However, India’s annual consumption amounts to only 12 per cent of this produce. The problem of surplus production is compounded by the fact that the expiry period for the medicine is very short (two to three months).

According to factory officials, the cinchona directorate (under which the unit falls) annually allocates Rs 24 crore to the factory. Of this Rs 21 crore is spent in giving salaries to the employees. The directorate manages to get a return of 2 to 3 per cent on the total expenditure.

The lack of returns has led the government to ponder over the feasibility of the production unit and in January this year an inspector from the state drug controller’s office visited the factory.

Based on his report the controller suspended the unit’s medicine production licence in May, said S.K. Niyogi, the chief chemist at the factory.

“We are now drawing our salaries virtually for doing nothing. If the government does not adopt a proper marketing policy to sell the produces of the factory, the unit will face a permanent closure,” said M.F. Karim, the production chemist of the unit.

He added that the government should modernise the machinery in the factory and try to sell the product in the international market.