RAS question
India's Central Drugs Standard Control Organisation (CDSCO) is responsible for:
Correct answer: (C) Approval and regulation of drugs, cosmetics, and medical devices.
India's Central Drugs Standard Control Organisation is responsible for approving and regulating drugs, cosmetics and medical devices, rather than manufacturing or selling them.
Explanation
CDSCO is India's central drug authority for functions assigned to the Central Government under the Drugs and Cosmetics Act. The official CDSCO introduction identifies its role in regulatory control over drug imports, approval of new drugs and clinical trials, and certain central licensing functions. That fits option C because the organisation's role is regulatory: it approves and oversees drugs, cosmetics and medical devices, including drug approvals, medical-device approvals, cosmetics safety, vaccine regulation and import or export control. The key exam distinction is between a regulator and a market participant. CDSCO sets and applies the approval and control framework; it is not the body that manufactures medicines, runs retail sale, or trains doctors.
Why the other options are wrong
- (A) Manufacturing drugs is an industrial or production activity, while CDSCO's role is regulatory approval and control under the Drugs and Cosmetics Act.
- (B) Selling medicines is a commercial retail or distribution activity, not the central regulatory function assigned to CDSCO.
- (D) Training doctors belongs to medical education and professional training, whereas CDSCO deals with approvals and regulation of drugs, cosmetics and medical devices.
Concept
This tests the Science and Technology and public-health regulation theme: knowing which institution regulates which sector. RAS often asks such questions because statutory regulators connect science, governance and citizen safety.