Close to 200 quacks are operating in the district, according to a list drawn out by the office of the Deputy Director of Health .

Six- member, block level, anti-quack teams have been constituted here for a sustained crackdown on quacks. The list itself has been drawn based on information from the grass-root level, including tip-offs from village health nurses, ad block medical officers. The database on unqualified medical practitioners is being verified through field raids.

According to Joint Director of Health Asok Kumar, who is the implementing authority, the focus is also on AYUSH practitioners who were flouting regulations and prescribing allopathy medicines.

Anti-quack teams are headed by the block medical officer at the block level, and supported by the CMOs (chief medical officers) of taluk hospitals, along with the local VAO and local police. “One round of sweeping goes, again they come back, and hence it has to be a sustained move,” says P.Priya Raj, Deputy Director of Health. The crackdown appears to have put Siddha practitioners on the spot. “There was a complaint that few Siddha clinics were sealed, when they had gone for lunch. Hence, the raids are being carried out in a careful manner,” said DD health. Last weekend, over four quacks were arrested.