The stage is set for elections to the governing body of Pharmaceutical Export Promotion Council (Pharmexcil). The preparations are in full swing, and the last date for filing nominations has come to an end on September 5, 2005. The members would have to return the ballot papers (to be dispatched to them on 13th) on or before 29th. The results are to be declared next day.

While the nominated Committee of Administration (COA) that is in place today would attempt to retain their presence by winning all 16 seats, the newcomers to the council who were earlier part of the now dismantled Pharma Panel of Chemexcil would attempt to make their presence felt in the elections.

D B Mody, chairman, Pharmexcil, says, "The council is well prepared to conduct free and fair elections in a transparent manner." He informed that the list of members, the election rules and nomination forms have already been made available on the pharmexcil website. "Every contestant has to abide by the same rules and there is no discriminatory treatment to any member who wishes to contest in the elections," he added.

The website does not differentiate between the ordinary members and associate members in its list. However, only ordinary members have the right to vote or to propose / second the names of the contestants. Mody informed that the contestants would be given the list of ordinary members on request.

Interestingly, out of the 1400 members so far enrolled with Pharmexcil, only 80 are known to have so far passed the council scrutiny to get the status of an ordinary member. Others are expected to prove their credentials by 28th September if they have to vote in the election. Some of the aspiring contestants feel that they might not get time to canvas the ordinary members if they are approved only a day before the elections. Reacting to this observation, Mody said that the contestants should have the responsibility to ensure the eligibility status of membership of the people who support them.

The COA is to have 16 members drawn from categories like SSIs (4 seats), non-SSIs (4), status holders (4), merchant exporters (1), ayurveda (1), CROs and Biotechnology (1) and others (1). "Being the first election, all members would have the rights to vote for all 16 candidates. We have reserved the seats for every categories to ensure democratic representation," Mody said.

However, not all are happy with the preparations that are being made for the council elections as some of the members have expressed dissatisfaction over the absence of a proper voting list. They have also said that members belonging to specific categories should be allowed to vote for the specific panel alone and not for everyone. In a letter to the ministry of commerce, Lalit Kumar Jain, former Chairman of Pharma Panel, Chemexcil and a current COA candidate complained against the arrangements made by the council and wanted a central observer to the election. "In the absence of category of ordinary voters, any category voters could vote for any category. This will lead to imbalances in representation as the members of the category that has majority can decide the fate of all 16 nominees," he said.