The Delhi Pharmacy Council (DPC) has canceled around 9000 registrations of pharmacists during the last one year as most of them have not responded to the repeated correspondences from the Council for the renewal of registrations. This is primarily attributed to the fact that pharmacists have not updated their respective professional addresses with the council as a large number of them have joined either the pharma industry or have gone abroad in search of greener pastures.

According to SL Nasa, registrar, DPC, "Council has made 24, 000 registrations since 1949 of which 9000 registrations have been canceled due to non-renewal. We had sent letters to the candidates for renewals but did not get responses. We therefore decided to cancel the registrations."

As per the details shared by DPC, a fee of Rs.500 is charged one time for five years by DPC for the registration and 800 pharmacists are registered annually on an average. Nasa reasons out that many of the pharmacists might have joined the pharma industry in various capacities and even gone abroad to pursue advanced studies and hence have failed to update their addresses with the council.

This comes at a time when DPC requires pharmacy inspectors in each of its nine districts for implementation of the Pharmacy Act. State pharmacy councils are empowered to appoint pharmacy inspectors with the previous sanction of the state government. DPC is awaiting approval on the same from the stater government for the past five years. Pharmacy Council of India (PCI) also mandates there should be one pharmacist for three doctors.

Explains Dr B Suresh, president, PCI, "Proper planning and execution of the policies with regard to appointment of inspectors are not being taken up properly because of the duplicacy of activities and responsibilities between the Pharmacy Act and D&C Act."

To ensure strict compliance of the statutory provisions of the Pharmacy Act, PCI has been writing to the state governments for appointment of inspectors u/s 26 A of the Pharmacy Act. The matter has also been taken up with the Ministry of Health & Family Welfare to be further pursued with the respective state governments.