Buying medicine to cure flu or a bad throat may now be as easy as stepping into your nearest grocery store. To provide better access to household remedies that have been in use for a long period of time, the government will redraw Schedule K of the Drugs and Cosmetics Act to allow non-chemist shops across the country to sell certain selected drugs.

Sources in the know said that the government will come out with the amendment in the next fortnight. It would allow household remedies category medicines to be sold across the country without any trade license.

This means that commonly-used drugs like cough syrups, balms, bandages and other forms of household remedies would be made available at the local grocery store.

Generally, prescription drugs as well as drugs sold over the counter (OTC) can be sold only by a licensed chemists. However, a limited number of drugs—included under the Schedule K of the Drugs and Cosmetics Act—are allowed to be sold by a person without a chemists’ licence.

Industry trackers say the amended act would increase accesibility of drugs. However, the catch is that only drugs with a safe history, and in use for a long time, would become accessible. A person seeking prescription drugs (which come under Schedule X, H, and so on) will still have to go to a licensed chemist.

The government, however, has no immediate plan to notify an Over-The Counter (OTC) drug list, as demanded by multinational pharma companies. The latter have been clamouring for a change in norms which would help in increasing the OTC market—pegged at Rs 4,500 crore and growing at 15% annually—and provide them with increased sale outlets for their products.

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