Holding a protest here J&K Pharmacy Graduates Association has demanded that the minimum eligibility for the post of Jr. Pharmacist should be made Diploma/Degree in Pharmacy as indicated in the Central Pharmacy Act 1948.
The members of the Pharmacy graduates Association were holding placards in their hands demanding justice. According to a statement issued here the Association said, “even after the implementation of Central Pharmacy Act 1948 in J&K, H&ME and Service Selection Board has notified Pharmacist Post with eligibility criteria as 10+2 with Diploma in Medical Assistant which is a non-Pharmacy Course as per the Central Pharmacy Act 1948. Such a move is not only in contravention to the CPA 1948 and mockery of the Central Act but also to HME order 176 JK (HME)of 2021 dated 09.03.2021.”
The Association said that this advertisement notification is “in contravention to Central Pharmacy Act 1948, Pharmacy Education Regulations 1991 & 2014, Supreme Court of India order dated 05.03.2020 and G.S.R. 51 dated 11.03.2015.”
The Association asked that if Central Pharmacy Act 1948 has been implemented in J&K why notifications for Pharmacist Post are not advertised as per the criteria laid by the Pharmacy Council of India. “In the rest of the country, the Pharmacy Council of India (PCI) regulates education as well as profession of pharmacy, but in Jammu & Kashmir due to the special status of the state, drug laws were regulated by the JK Pharmacy Council, which never bothered to incorporate educational regulations as a result under qualified medical assistants were employed by H&ME to work in place of Pharmacists. Qualified Pharmacists possessing graduate or postgraduate degrees were labelled as overqualified. Due to identity crisis, qualified Pharmacists moved from pillar to post for recognition and lost precious time in going around courts and administrative offices,” it said. “Since central pharmacy laws were applied to the union territories of Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh and we anticipated that only personnel with valid credentials can enter the profession of pharmacy as mandated under Section 12 of the central Pharmacy Act 1948. Only the qualifications of diploma in pharmacy (D Pharma), bachelor in pharmacy (B Pharma) and doctor of pharmacy (Pharm D) are approved for the purpose of registration & to work as Pharmacists.”