The Andhra Pradesh Pharmacy Council (APPC) has introduced new token system to control the growing inflow of candidates coming for fresh registrations and renewals.

According to sources, since July this year there has been an increase in the number of students coming for registrations. Around 120 to 200 students are visiting the office every day. As the council is having a limited staff they are not able to control the growing crowds and have installed two security guards at the gates.

Sources at the Council’s office informed that every day 40 tokens are issued to the candidates on first come first serve basis. Students coming beyond this number are instructed to come the next day.

The securities have been instructed to allow only those candidates possessing the tokens into the office. The remaining people who come for enquiry and for other reasons are kept outside the office and are allowed only after 4 pm in the evening.

As the APPC is the only centralized office here in Hyderabad serving the entire state, many people coming from faraway districts like Adilabad, Tirupati, Visakhapatnam, Vijayanagaram and Srikakulam, etc are facing problems as they have to wait for one or two days more for their work to complete.

“I have come all the way from Tirupati to get my passbook renewal. I had to close my shop almost two days which is a big loss for me. If the government installs the online system, it will greatly facilitate the members as they can renew regularly on time without any lapse,” informed a D. Pharmacy candidate who had come to the Council’s office for renewal.

The candidates coming from Andhra and Rayalaseema regions feel that the council should open new regional branches, one at Vijayawada and the other at Tirupati to facilitate the candidates in those regions.

Moreover, many students, who are fresh B and D Pharmacy graduates, are unaware as to what are the required documents to be submitted in order to get them registered. Though the council has put the instructions in the notice boards and here and there on the walls, it is not enough. Many students feel that an official website of the APPC would be a great facility which would enable them to know more details relating to registrations and renewals.

The much hyped online system of the pharmacy council is yet to be installed. Though the Council sources earlier claimed that it will be installed in three months, so far nothing has been done in this respect.