Chandigarh
The Haryana government has decided to verify antecedents of pharmacists on whose licences the medical shops are being run in the state. Drug control officers (DCOs) and senior DCOs of the state have to verify the past three years record of pharmacists undertaking or supervising sale of drugs at the counters of medical shops as per the directions of state drug controller. Such verification will include the testimony of two or more witnesses that the pharmacist was in full time business of selling medicines at the medical shop and has not been indulged in any other business. The licenses for the medical shops would be issued/renewed only after such verification. “Proper verification of the pharmacist should be made with regard to his employment/job profession during the previous three years and should verify that he is not employed in any other job/profession,” said the letter issued by R.K. Singla, State Drug Controller. These steps have been taken by the state government to ensure that the pharmaceutical drugs are not used as intoxicant by the youth of state. Development is also significant, as majority of medical stores in the state “hires” pharmacist licenses to run the shop, as the medicines can be sold by or under the supervision of a pharmacist who has the been granted license by the state pharmacy council. An officer of the state food and drug administration(FDA) said that a large number of license holders who have passed diploma, bachelors or masters degree in pharmacy, got a fixed income of around Rs 5,000-6,000 per month by renting out of their license to the owners of medical shops and were employed elsewhere.
