Union government has reconstituted the Ayurveda Pharmacopoeia Commission as Pharmacopoeia Commission for Indian Medicine (PCIM) which will now take the Ayush sector to the next level of growth. The PCIM is now formed on similar lines of the global pharmacopoeia commissions.

According to a communiqué from Central Council of Research in Ayurvedic Sciences (CCRAS), provision under Rule 17.1 of the Rules and Regulations of Pharmacopoeia Commission for Indian Medicine will now focus on preparation of official formularies and pharmacopoeias of single drugs and compound formulations. It will prepare standards for drugs and medicines of therapeutic usefulness or pharmaceutical necessity sufficiently used in the ayurvedic practice, besides, develop testing methods.

Further, the term of the Committee would be for a period of three years from the date of its first meeting and the members would hold office for that period.

Other tasks of the Committee are that it will also lay down tests for identity, quality and purity. It would ensure uniformity of the physical properties and active constituents. In addition, the Committee will also provide all other scientific information regarding the distinguishing characteristics, methods of preparation, dosage, method of administration with various anupanas or vehicles and their toxicity.

Dr S K Sharma is the Chairman of the Pharmacopoeia Commission for Indian Medicine. The official members are Advisor (Ay.), Department of Ayush, Director, Pharmacopoeial Laboratory for Indian Medicine and Director General, Central Council for Research in Ayurvedic Sciences is appointed as the member secretary.

The non official members are two experts in the field of Analytical Chemistry/Pharmaceutical Chemistry/ Pharmaceutics: Prof V K Kapoor, and Prof Karan Vashist, University Institute of Pharmaceutical Science, Chandigarh.

Under the segment of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences: Dr DBA Narayana, herbal scientist is the member. For Pharmacognosy members are Savita Satakopan,   Prof. Malati G Chauhan, IPGTRA, Gujarat Ayurved University, Jamnagar. Under the Dravyaguna segment, the members are Dr V K Joshi, Department of Dravyaguna, Faculty of Ayurveda, Institute of Medical Sciences, Banaras Hindu University, Varanasi and Dr M R Uniyal, Atrya Ayurved Sadan, Dehra Dun, (Uttarakhand). For the Rasashastra and Bhaisajya Kalpana members are Dr S K Dixit, from Varanasi and Dr M L Sharma, Vice Chancellor, Gujarat Ayurved University, Jamnagar. Member representatives from the Ayurveda industry are Dr C K Katiyar, Director, R&D, Dabur India, Ghazaibad and Dr P M Varier, Arya Vaidya Sala, Kotakkal. The biotechnology member is Dr S Natesh, Sr. Advisor, Department of Bio Technology, New Delhi. Expert in Bhasma, Metals and Minerals: Dr Shailesh Nadkarni, Dhootpapeshwar, Mumbai and J K Dhing, Former Chief Manager, Hindustan Copper Ltd., Udaipur are also members of the Committee.

With the formation of the PCIM, India is now the only country in the world to have a two such Commissions one for pharma and the other of the traditional medicine. A dedicated Commission with a fresh agenda provides the Ayush sector a strong platform to enhance market opportunities, said Dr DBA Narayana, member, eminent scientist and member PCIM.