The visit of Dr. Abdul Kalam, President of India to release The Pharma Vision 2020 Charter at the IPC in Chennai last month should have provided a morale booster to the thousands of pharmacists gathered there for the event. Broadly the Charter envisioned promotion of ethical standards in pharmacy practices through a thorough revamp of the profession in the coming years. Although the Union ministry of health had endorsed the World Health Assembly resolution (47,12), India has avoided implementation and inclusion of pharmacy in the National Health Policy. The National Health Policy has not accorded pharmacy its rightful place in national health systems. The Charter, therefore, feels that in the emerging scenario, it is logical that the society should rely upon pharmacists to enhance the quality of drug therapy by identifying inappropriate prescribing, pharmaceutical delivery, patient compliance and proper monitoring of drug therapy. The Charter expects the pharmacists to become more patient centric and should shift focus from just product to both product and patient by identifying the patient needs and ensuring that the patient understands the correct use of medicines. Such a position will provide an active role for pharmacists in health promotion, disease prevention and working with various disciplines of pharmacy. The Charter has outlined a few strategies to reach the goals by 2020. Upgradation of minimum qualification and training is considered a significant requirement besides making continuing education programme mandatory for practice of pharmacy. The Charter seeks to bring pharmacists' registration and licensing of chemists' shops under one agency besides accreditation of chemists' shops to ensure good pharmacy practices. Ashwini Kumar, the DCGI later at the IPC had disclosed that the structured CEP will be organized across the country in major metros and towns in partnership with the state pharmacy councils, regulatory officials, professional and trade associations for empowering the pharmacists. DCGI also underlined the need for pharmacists to establish a covenantal relationship with patients, identify their needs and respond to them. The concept of community pharmacist is almost totally unknown in India today with the pharmacist at the counter functioning as a mere salesman. This position has to change and the pharmacist at the retail counters needs to take informed decision on the doctor's prescription instead of just handing over all the medicines scribbled on a piece of paper. Dr M D Nair, an eminent research scientist of Indian pharmaceutical industry, even advocated at IPC that pharmacists should advise and prescribe OTC drugs to patients to reduce the medical costs. The opinion has its own merit considering the level of over prescription the doctors are indulged in at the behest of pharmaceutical companies today. But for that, the pharmacists at the counter and in the hospitals should be ready to assume a much larger and responsible role.