Taking the recruitment reforms implemented by the state government of Punjab as a role model, the healthcare pharmacists working under various state governments want respective authorities to raise the minimum educational qualification for direct appointment of pharmacists to degree level all over the country.

This will enable the working pharmacists in the healthcare sector to avail more promotional avenues and status, as well as to increase the efficiency in work for more quality service, they observe.

Currently D Pharm is the minimum qualification for becoming a pharmacist in government service all over India, except in Punjab. The only state in the country where a state government notified the minimum educational qualification for pharmacist post as Bachelor of Pharmacy is Punjab.  In addition to Punjab, the Directorate of Medical Education & Research under the health ministry of Haryana has also mandated B Pharm as the basic qualification for pharmacist posts in the medical education institutions under the directorate.

Government of Punjab revised the rules and notified B Pharm qualification for pharmacist post on November 2, 2016, and it was published in the government gazette on November 9.

The pharmacists all over India argue that the basic qualification for medical profession is bachelor in medical science (MBBS) and for a staff nurse in a government hospital it is bachelor in nursing. Similarly, for the profession of pharmacy, B Pharm should be mandated as the minimum qualification for pharmacy profession.

“All over the world basic qualification for pharmacist is bachelor of pharmacy, in some countries it is Pharm D. But in our country, even after 70 years have passed after the Pharmacy Act was implemented, the basic qualification is still Diploma in Pharmacy except in the state of Punjab. If the qualification is raised from diploma to degree, it will help the pharmacists to do his duties more efficiently and in a more commendable manner because he will have better information regarding over-doses, incompatibility and contra-indications than a diploma holder generally has. Higher qualification of the pharmacist will ultimately help the patients also”, said Gajendra Kumar Pathak, pharmacist at the Health Sub-Centre at Almora in Uttarakhand. Pathak was the former organizing secretary of the Diploma Pharmacist Association of Uttarakhand.
 
Pawan Pandey, secretary of the government pharmacists association in Uttarakhand said it is high time for all the state governments introduced the bridge course introduced by the Pharmacy Council of India to upgrade the qualification of working pharmacists. He said his association has submitted a memorandum to the government of Uttarakhand to take steps to conduct bridge course for diploma pharmacists.

N Rajnath, president of Bihar government pharmacists association said the two-year diploma course in pharmacy should be stopped and B Pharm qualification should be made the basic qualification for pharmacists all over India. His association has taken up this demand with the state government.

Nabam Yahing, president of Arunachal Pradesh Registered Pharmacist Association commented that a pharmacist with a degree in pharmacy usually learns three years theories in pharmacy and one year practice before he becomes a working pharmacist. He is able to give advice to the patients on how to use the drugs and its reactions. She said B Pharm should be made the basic qualification for pharmacists.

For the inventory management of a pharmacy and for good dispensing, a pharmacy graduate is more efficient than a diploma holder. If the basic qualification is B Pharm, the pharmacists will get more promotion and salary, said Paban Chandra Das, senior pharmacist at the state dispensary, Guwahati in Assam. Das is the president of Assam Pharmacist Services Association.

Meanwhile, Prasanna Kumar Sarma, former regulatory officer and ex-registrar of Assam Pharmacy Council has opined that all the state governments should close down the diploma colleges and set up degree colleges in place.  Presently the working pharmacists with D Pharm qualification should be given hospital pharmacy training and B Pharm should be given industrial training.

Tamil Venden, president of Tamil Nadu Pharmacists Welfare Association said it will be a major development in the profession of pharmacy if degree is made the basic qualification for pharmacist post. But the existing diploma holders should be helped to do the bridge course and get a degree.

S Thankachan, president of Kerala government pharmacist association said in the coming fifth national conference of All India State Governments Pharmacists Association, he will present a resolution demanding the union government to direct all state governments for measures to upgrade the minimum level educational qualification of pharmacists.

Prof. Lahlen Mawia, head of department of pharmacy in the government pharmacy college at Aizwal in Mizoram, said upgrading the qualification of pharmacists is important as we need higher qualifications to work and practice pharmacy profession. Though D Pharm qualification cannot be neglected, for better practice the subjects covered in diploma course are not enough. The pharmacists need to study further, so it is necessary to upgrade the qualification to degree level.

Dr. Suvakanta Dash, head of pharmacy at the government college of pharmacy at Agartala in Tripura said degree qualification for pharmacists is necessary because B Pharm qualified candidates are professionally more sound in clinical pharmacology, patho-physiology and drug information.

Commenting on the issue, Pushpraj Swarnakar, chairman of Odisha branch of the National Federation of Pharmacy Students (NFPS) said, “Yes it is a great step for the pharmacy profession. It should be made mandatory that B.Pharm degree should be the minimum qualification for pharmacy profession because D. Pharm students get only basic knowledge about the medicines and their use. So, B Pharm should be made as the basic qualification for pharmacy profession”.