Gujarat sees slowdown in jobs for pharmacists

Seats in pharmacy colleges go vacant, as interest level drops amongst students

While the number of registered pharmacists in Gujarat has swelled from over 24,000 in 2005 to over 52,000 at present, jobs have not grown commensurately, alleged the Gujarat State Pharmacy Council (GSPC). Only 10 per cent of pharmacists who pass out every year in the state, get suitable jobs, GSPC claimed.

Pradip Trivedi, president, GSPC said, "The job creation in the pharmacy sector has been very slow. Most students who pass out have to opt for jobs as medical representatives or salesmen etc. Only a few, not more than 10 per cent of BPharm and MPharm (bachelors and masters degrees in pharmacy) get suitable jobs in the industry." In terms of new job creation, hardly a few hundred a created every year, if not less, he added.

Around 2,500-2,800 students pass out every year in Gujarat at present. This has come down significantly in the last few years. Trivedi said that around three to four years back, the student turnout was much higher at around 4,000 to 5,000 students per year, but at present, there are hardly 70 operational pharmacy colleges in the state which are also not getting seats filled up. Of the 5,500 seats in pharmacy colleges in the state, around 2,000 were filled last year.

Explaining the reasons behind the drop in interest among students to opt for pharmacy, Trivedi said, "According to the Food Safety and Standards Act, any science graduate (BSc) can become a food inspector. There is no specific requirement to recruit BPharm and MPharm students who are more suited for the job. Similar is the situation in case of jobs of manufacturing chemists for which any chemistry graduate is eligible. While Gujarat has a huge pharma manufacturing base, this does not translate into job opportunities for pharmacy graduates. Companies would opt to take science graduates for a lower salary."

The GSPC has written to the Pharmacy Council of India (PCI) to start a dialogue with the Centre to make certain professions exclusive for pharmacists, which would significantly increase their job prospects. As of now, according to the Drug and Cosmetics Act, for the post of drug inspectors, one needs to recruit BPharm and MPharm pass outs only, and medical stores make do with diploma holders in pharmacy.

Meanwhile, the GSPC is planning to launch an online refresher course for pharmacists registered with it. "We have already recruited some pharmacologists to design the module and create a question bank of around 3,000 to 4,000 questions. Any pharmacist who is registered with us can take the test online. We are also planning to recruit IT professionals and develop the software in-house," Trivedi said.

At present around 5,000-6,000 pharmacists register with the GSPC every year. This includes pharmacists who have passed out from other states as well.