In a major embarrassment to India Inc, the country’s largest drug-maker Sun Pharmaceuticals’ research arm, Sun Pharma Advanced Research, allegedly paid its clinical research workers in demonetised ₹500 notes.
A sting operation telecast by a local TV news channel showed Sun Pharma Advanced Research officials allegedly making payments in old ₹500 notes to some of its clinical research workers in Vadodara, triggering a major controversy as the sting went viral on social media. One of the women recipients of the money, who refused to be named, claimed that she provided her blood samples for clinical research at the company’s R&D centre at Akota in Vadodara. The district collector has ordered an inquiry into the incident.
The woman said: “They collected about 440 ml of blood during these sessions. When I went to collect my payment of around ₹9,000, they paid me in demonetised currency, which is no longer in use.”
The company in a statement said: “Sun Pharma has been and will always remain in compliance of all regulatory requirements, including the recent demonetisation directive, of the government. We encourage volunteers to take payments digitally or in cheque.”