Mumbai : District Chemists and Druggists Associations conducting registration camps in Maharashtra and charging 200-300 extra from fresh graduates. Maharashtra State Pharmacy Council (MSPC) fixed registration fees of Rs.2650 but the people involved in the process charging extra from students and charging double to renew pharma license. This is the period of registration as camps held in July to December every year.
It’s not a matter of Rs.200- Rs.300 only as this is price overcharged per person. Around 20,000 pharmacy students passed their degrees every year as 195 institutes offering D. Pharma courses and 152 B.pharma institutes in Maharashtra. 16,632 new pharmacists registered last year in Maharashtra.
MSPC permitted local associations and district druggists to conduct registration camps for the local students to save their time and money that will waste to go and register themselves in Mumbai.
Kailash Tandale,president of Maharashtra Registered Pharmacists Association (MRPA) shared that they received several overcharging complaints against a number of district chemists and druggists associations including Aurangabad Chemists and Druggists Association, Nagpur Chemists and Druggists Association in 2010 also and had filed a complaint with MSPC against Aurangabad Chemists and Druggists Association in 2010 in this regard. But no one taken an action and association getting permission from MSPC for holding pharmacist registration camp every year.
Tandale also shared that they are waiting for response from Maharashtra Medical Education Minister Girish Mahajan and Chief Minister regarding their intervention in stopping overcharging. MRPA is doing their best and appealed to the Maharashtra pharmacy council to allow all pharmacy colleges to conduct pharmacist registration camps for their students.