The working group on drugs and pharmaceuticals for 11th Plan (2007-2012) constituted by the Planning Commission has termed 'alarming' the deterioration of the quality of technical manpower coming from pharmacy institutions. It has called for urgent remedial measures including a joint initiative by University Grants Commission (UGC) and All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) to develop quality benchmarks for the hundreds of pharmacy colleges functional in the country.

'The quality of technical manpower coming from our colleges and universities is very poor. In many cases the reason is lack of budgetary support and poor infrastructure. India may be claiming a large scientific talent pool, but many of them are on the verge of retirement. The younger generation is finding life sciences a less attractive career option. The government needs to address this serious situation', working group members observe.

The working group also stressed the need for a proper assessment of the human resource and employment figures in life science sector to make future projections. It noted that the 9th Plan working group (1997-2002) had gone into detail on the human resources and employment scenario in the pharma industry and made the same observations. It had given a 5 per cent annual growth projection in pharma HR sector.

The work group also feels that India needs more scientific talents to meet its growing R&D requirements. 'It has been estimated that a viable drug discovery programme would need about 2000 highly skilled and trained scientific R&D manpower. With the focus on drug discovery and more and more in house pharma R&D centres coming up, these figures may need upward revision', they say.

According to AICTE figures, pharmacy colleges in the country are offering 625 pharmacy courses with a seat intake of 52,708 every year.