Karnataka drugs control department has received a total budget allocation of around Rs.52crore. Out of this, the planned allocation is Rs.33.83 crore and the remaining is the non-plan funds of Rs.18.12 crore.
From this fund, the state government has set aside Rs.2.67 crore for the second Government College of Pharmacy in Gulbarga. The state government recognised the need to have a pharmacy college in north Karnataka only to ensure that the students in the backward districts of north Karnataka would be provided access to affordable pharmacy education.
"Right now every effort is made for the land identification by the state government spanning between 10-15 acres which is expected to come in within a month. Immediately, we will look at commencing the construction of the college. To begin with, we would build two classrooms and two laboratories as per the requirements of All India Council of Technical Education (AICTE) and Pharmacy Council of India (PCI) norms along with basic amenities to start the first year courses in D. Pharm and B. Pharm," Dr BR Jagashetty, Karnataka drugs controller, told Pharmabiz.
Incidentally, the Government College of Pharmacy comes under the banner of the state drugs control department and therefore the developments are closely monitored by us. Once the first academic year starts, we will simultaneously work to speed up the construction of the remaining college building, he added.
Karnataka had only one Government College of Pharmacy at Bengaluru which completed 50 years in June this year. The college has generated qualified pharmacy diploma holders, graduates and post graduates besides PhD candidates.
Now with the expansion of the drugs control department, there is a serious need for qualified hands and therefore the second Government College of Pharmacy at Gulbarga is being much awaited, said Dr Jagashetty.
Other projects envisaged under the budget allocation include the seeking of NABL (National Accreditation Board for Testing and Calibration Laboratories) recognition for its three drug test labs, setting up of a dedicated biological lab to test vaccines, rDNA, biotech drugs and blood products besides launch the mobile drug test vans.
Further, it has planned for own buildings for the drugs control offices across all 30 districts of the state. Currently, it has five offices at Bengaluru, Bagalkot, Hubli, Gulbarga and Bellary. It has now received clearances for four more offices that could come under its possession at Mysore, Belgaum, Bidar and Ramanagaram. In the remaining 21 districts, the department will look at setting aside the required funds, said Dr Jagashetty.
With the computerization and networking in place, the drugs control department has now appointed SB Jayaram former deputy drugs controller as consultant to supervise the efforts to issue online licenses and related certificates to the 236 manufacturing facilities in the state.