India's only quinine making unit set up in 1874, has been shut since 2001

Covid-19 has triggered a sense of urgency to revive this sick unit, as Hydroxychloroquine, an anti-malarial drug, surfaced as potential medicine to alleviate the symptoms of the disease

Udena Amgmu Yonzome holds one of the rarest jobs in India. She is the only official quinologist, or expert in making the age-old anti-malarial medicine, quinine, derived from the bark of the Cinchona plant. In February 2020, Yonzome joined the government factory for processing quinine at Mungpoo in Darjeeling, as an Assistant Quinologist, a position created in the late 19th century in colonial India. The factory is the only of its kind in India. The appointment process of a Quinologist is at the final stages.

Perched in the hills of Darjeeling, the factory was set up in the year 1874,