With irregularities creeping in erstwhile Andhra Pradesh Pharmacy Council (APPC), the Telangana employees and pharmacy associations have demanded the government to take immediate steps to bifurcate the existing pharmacy council in to APPC and Telangana State Pharmacy Council (TSPC).

Recently, there have been a large number of complaints and allegations from council members and pharmacy associations relating to various irregularities committed by the In-charge Registrar of APPC, Pola Nagaraju, a retired drug control administration officer.

Having learned this, Governor, E S L Narasihman of AP and TS has directed the officials from both the states to enquire in to the matter. In view of this, the Telanagna government has appointed Putta Srinivas, Director of Medical Education and Andhra Pradesh government has appointed B.L. Meena, Director General of APDCA, as enquiry officers from both the states and directed them to submit a report at the earliest.

According to sources from the Telangana pharmacy association, the registrar is behaving in a biased manner and is reluctant to take any suggestions or views from the council members to bring in new reforms and is taking unilateral decisions with regard to appointments of outsourcing and contract employees without notification or permission from either Telangana or Andhra Pradesh government.

Sources also revealed that, the registrar is minting money illegally by taking bribes and issuing registrations and renewals staying away from his office. “The registrar most of the time stays away from the office.  He even visits districts and towns to issue registrations and renewals. What is the need for a registrar to do registrations by staying away from his office? This clearly suggests he is taking money from the medical shops owners and pharmacy professionals for clearing their certificates. This is clearly violation of pharmacy act and the rules set by the council,” said a source.

Earlier there was no token system for the candidates for getting registrations. But the registrar has introduced the token system and is taking 6 months to 1 year for registering the fresh graduates. This is creating a lot of inconvenience to the fresh graduates as they are losing job opportunities due to the delay.

It is also alleged that by deliberately creating a situation of delay, the registrar is taking advantage of this and taking large sums from candidates who are in a hurry for registrations or for clearing expired renewals. What is the need for the registrar to introduce the affidavit system and the token system? He is deliberately creating these systems and thereby creating hurdles in the process of registrations and renewals for the candidates. By doing so, he wants to confuse the candidates and on that pretext he is taking bribes from the candidates for speedy clearance of their registrations or renewals, alleged another source.

Moreover, the Telangana employees unions are also blaming the registrar as a stumbling block in the way of bifurcation of the council.