Assam Pharmacy Council should cancel registration of 1,190 fake pharmacists

STAFF REPORTER

GUWAHATI: The cancellation of the registration of around 1,190 fake pharmacists still working in the state is not likely before April this year, when the APC (Assam Pharmacy Council) will have a re-elected body.

Allegations go that the APC, which is in election mode, is reluctant to take any drastic measures against the 1,190 fake pharmacists working in the state.

Allegations did the rounds in the state in 2008 that most of the pharmacists registered under Section 32(B) of the Pharmacy Act, 1984, were fake. The allegation led the government to form a scanning committee that found around 3,000 pharmacists registered in the state to be fake.

A section of the fake pharmacists moved the Gauhati High Court against the APC. The Court asked the APC to cancel the registrations of the fake pharmacists under it. Through a Governor’s notification issued on February 21, 2022, the APC cancelled the registration of 1,374 fake pharmacists. Through another Governor’s notification issued on May 6, 2020, the APC cancelled the registration of 437 other fake pharmacists. The APC wrote to the State Drugs Controller to act against the 1,810 fake pharmacists whose registrations were cancelled.

However, the APC seemed to take its time to act against the remaining 1,190 fake pharmacists who have been working in the state even now.

When contacted, a source in the APC said, “We have already issued show-cause notices to the remaining 1,190 fake pharmacists. However, most of them have left their former addresses. We will call them to our office to scrutinize their documents.”

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