BackPharmacy colleges to be relieved of dual control
Pharmacy colleges to be relieved of dual control
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Berhampur (Orissa): Hitherto under dual control by the Pharmacy Council of India (PCI) as well as the All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE), pharmacy colleges across the country will soon come under the control of PCI alone.
“The central government is likely to bring in a legislation for ammendment of the Pharmacy Act, 1948 to effect the changes," PCI president B. Suresh said here.
Senior officials of the union health ministry have indicated that the amendment bill would be tabled during the budget session of Parliament beginning Tuesday, he said.
The ammendment to the the existing act was necessiated following issuance of permission by the AICTE for opening of a large number of private pharmacy colleges which lacked adequate infrastructure and teaching staff, he claimed.
In a bid to bring pharmacy in India on par with global standard, the PCI has decided to introduce a six-year Doctor of Pharmacy (Pharma D) course from the next academic session.
As the course was now available in countries like the US, Pakistan and European nations, Indian students faced difficulties in competing with them.
Moreover, the USA had imposed restrictions on Indian students having four-year B. Pharma degree to practice or work in pharmaceutical industries there, Suresh said.
Stating that out of around 600 colleges in the country, at least 50% of them would be eligible to start Pharma D course, Suresh said: “We will encourage the colleges to open the course which fulfilled the required guidelines."
Conditions for opening the course included adequate infrastructure and a tie-up with a 300-bedded hospital. The last year of the course would be meant for internship in the hospital, he said.
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