Extending full cooperation to this year’s IPC, the Tamil Nadu Chemists & Druggists Association (TNCDA) has decided to send 50 members from their executive committee to the three-day Indian Pharmaceutical Congress (IPC) as delegates.

“We are being enrolled as delegates. The registration of our members is progressing. All our district committees have been informed of the event and given special circular to attend the meet. We will extend full support and maximum sponsorship to the 64th IPC. We will not see it as we have been sidelined in any case,” said N Anandan, general secretary of TNCDA.

He said last year our representative was there in the speakers’ panel in one of the sessions. “Even though any one of us is not invited to share the dais with speakers, we will cooperate fully with the programme as our organisation is in good rapport with all the members of the IPCA. The present office-bearers of the chemists and druggists association in Tamil Nadu are recently elected, but former general secretary was invited to the last IPC,” Anandan said.

The leaders of the 64th IPC, S V Veeramani and J Jayaseelan, said the treasurer of the AIOCD, M Arulkumar and R Sreenivasan from TNCDA are among the national advisors of this year’s IPC and Sreenivasan was enlisted as one of the speakers in a session. But due to his busy schedule he will be in Mumbai on the IPC days.

V P Elango, the general secretary of the Tamil Nadu Pharmaceutical Distributors Association said he did not know anything about IPC other than the news getting from Pharmabiz.

A Kannan, president of the Consortium of Pharmaceutical Manufacturers and Marketers Association (CIPMMA) said his association plans to send 15 representatives to the Conference. He said he is holding a post in one of the sub-committees of the programme. But no member from CIPMMA shares the dais with the speakers.

The executive committee of the TNCDA that is scheduled for December 16 in Trichy will consider ways to associate with the pharmaceutical manufacturers association and allied organisations in Tamil Nadu for future programmes, said N Anandan.

The organising secretary of the 64th IPC, Jayseelan specified that the Pharmaceutical Congress is mostly targeting students of pharmacy, researchers, scientists, faculty members, manufacturers and those working in the QA and QC departments. “Most of the speakers are pharmacists, the traders are also pharmacists,” he said.