A move to bring in a comprehensive amendment to the Pharmacy Act 1948 to upgrade the standards of pharmacy profession in the country to international levels has been on for a few years now. The draft incorporating various changes in the Act prepared by the Pharmacy Council of India (PCI) has been already reviewed by the Union health ministry and forwarded to the Union cabinet. Now, as reported by the Pharmabiz, these amendments should be cleared by the Parliament by early next year. The amendments to the Act talk about a total revamp of PCI to make it more effective as a regulator of pharmacy profession in the country. Although the Act had come into existence in 1948, it has neither defined the pharmacy profession nor prescribed any code of conduct for pharmacists. The amendment has proposed a clear definition of pharmacy profession to enhance its acceptance in the society. A professional fee for pharmacists' services and making continuing education programmes (CEP) mandatory for renewal of pharmacy registration are two other proposals. The comprehensive revamp of the Act is expected to make community pharmacist more responsible and accountable. The PCI has been deliberating for long to see that the pharmacist is answerable for any wrong dispensation of drugs. The proposal also aims to have total revamp the pharmacy education in the country. Standards of pharmacy education in India, facilities at the colleges and professional competence of pharmacists continue to remain poor despite vibrant growth achieved by the pharmaceutical industry during the last 25 years. It is extremely important that the knowledge base of the practicing pharmacist needs to be expanded and he should be motivated to take up more responsibilities. Therefore a pharmacist should have understanding of subjects like pathophysiology of common diseases, pharmacology, ADR, drug to drug interactions, interpretation of lab investigation, etc. In modern pharmacy stores, customers expect the presence of a pharmacist at the counter with such level of knowledge. With a two-year diploma course, pharmacists are not adequately qualified to understand these subjects and deliver such services. Therefore, to raise the skills of a pharmacist, the basic educational standards have to be upgraded first. For this, the entire curriculum of pharmacy education in India needs to be revamped with an industry and hospital orientation. The minimum qualification for that has to be a degree in pharmacy and not a diploma. A degree in pharmacy is considered as the minimum standard to be qualified as a pharmacist all over the world. There should be no compromise on this suggestion. Among all the proposals, the government may find raising minimum qualification of pharmacist to a degree is going to be quite tough. But that is going to be the core of this reform process and it needs a strong political will to enforce it considering the strong grip of politicians in pharmacy education in the country today.