Suhail Bhat
SOPORE, Dec 19: Authorities in Sopore have ordered inquiry into conduct of Diploma in Pharmacy course by Hakim Sanaullah Specialist Hospital and Cancer Centre at Mazbug in North Kashmir’s Sopore town after students complained that Drug and Food Control Department has refused to honour their degrees.
The Centre is putting the careers of hundreds of students at stake as the Institute is running pharmacy courses without any registration from the Pharmacy Council.
Misra Akhter, mother of Dawood Zahoor who has done Diploma in Pharmacy from the institute alleged that the institute mislead the students and has risked the careers of hundreds of students for the sake of few thousand rupees which they need to deposit for registration of the institute.
“After completing a two year Diploma in Pharmacy, my son applied for a Drug Licence but the issuing authority denied the request as the institution is not registered with the Pharmacy Council of India. For past six months, I have been running from pillar to post to save the career of my child”, she said.
She alleged that the institution was pushing them to wall to extract money the institution needed for registration. “I visited the office of Pharmacy Council several times and they assured me that they will not ruin the career of my ward if the institute meets the required guidelines. The institution head is playing hide and seek with the parents of the students. Yesterday, I called him and he told me to come to the office but there was no one in the office today”, she said.
While explaining the functioning of the Pharmacy Council, the Vice President of Pharmacy Council Kashmir, Mohan Bhagwat said the Jammu and Kashmir Pharmacy Council has been given the mandate to regulate different nuances related to pharmacy and no action can be executed without informing the Council.
“Earlier, the licences were given on the basis of experience where money was ruling the roost but now the licenses are only given to professionals. This has resulted in mushrooming of Pharmacy colleges. To keep them under check the Council was formed. Recently we have formed teams who will inspect the institutes to see if they have the required infrastructure and staff”, he said. “If the institutes meet the requirement they would not hesitate to provide the registration certificates as the department is not a deterrent”, he added.
Asked if the careers of the students were safe, he said: “We are here for the students so they do not need to worry. Unfortunately, the students do not check the credentials of an institute before applying. We will inspect the Institute in next week to see if it meets the laid guidelines. We will try to motive the owners and rope in them into the system”, he said.
Sub District Magistrate Sopore, Bashir Ahmad Bhat, told Excelsior that he has started the preliminary enquiry into the matter. “At first, I will see if the institute is registered with the Medical Council of India. The matter has come to me today only and I have immediately directed an enquiry into the matter and once we have some reports in hand action will be taken. We are here for students and no injustice will be tolerated against them,” he said.
The SDM further said that strict action would be taken if any irregularity surfaced.
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