Assam Pharmacy Students Protest- The Assam pharmacy student are protesting against Assam Pharmacy Council (APC) for withholding registration certificates. There are more than 5000 pharmacy students who are protesting against jeopardizing their future.
The students submitted that they have completed a two year course and a necessary three month hospital training and submitted the application to the Assam Pharmacy Council which is more than a year ago and paid the fee of Rs,6000.
Besides fulfilling all the requirement, the APC registrar has denied us registration for a year, which violates our basic rights under The Pharmacy Act, 1948,” the student added.
The council registrar stated, “The Gauhati High Court instructed us to issue provisional registrations to all students. However, provisional registration isn’t mentioned in The Pharmacy Act, 1948. We have moved to the High Court and are awaiting further orders to commence the registration process.”
Earlier there was not registrar so the APC attributed the delay to the absence of a registrar. After appointment of a registrar, the Srimanta Sankaradeva University of Health Sciences (SSUHS) imposed an exit examination for students from non-affiliated institutes, a mandate later overturned by the Gauhati High Court.
The Pharmacy Council of India (PCI) issued a notice on April 15, clarifying that SSUHS lacked the authority to conduct exit exams, reserving this right for the PCI, which would conduct such exams for the 2022-2023 session. Students from the 2020-2021 session were exempted from this requirement. However, the APC registrar insisted on an official directive from the PCI or the Assam government before issuing registrations.
Students pleaded that, ’this refusal to grant registration prevents us from applying for government jobs or hospital positions, opening pharmacies, and renders our degrees useless for employment.
Manash Kumar Das, a professor at GMCH, called for immediate government intervention into this resolve students utmost.
The president of the Assam Registered Pharmacists’ Union (ARPU) came in support of the students and urged fast action, and said “Graduates from government medical institutes should receive their registration certificates promptly. I request Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sharma to address this matter urgently. The registrar must begin issuing registrations immediately, as that is his responsibility.”