Concerned over the lack of recruitment, a group of qualified and registered pharmacists today raised issues pertaining to their profession with Health Minister Ampareen Lyngdoh.
Emosjohn Syiemlieh, a registered pharmacist, said that, as per the information they have obtained through a Right to Information (RTI) request, no recruitment through advertisement has been taken up by the government for the sanctioned post of pharmacist in the Directorate of Health Services to date.
“We urged the minister to kindly initiate a fair and inclusive recruitment whereby all pharmacists, sponsored and non-sponsored candidates, are allowed to compete for the positions,” mentioned Syiemlieh.
They have also urged the minister to increase the job opportunities for the youths who have completed pharmacy courses by setting up pharmaceutical industries in Meghalaya.
Syiemlieh also informed that they have requested to further increase the manpower of pharmacists to meet the Indian Public Health Standards (IPHS) in all the facilities, such as district hospital, community and primary health centres and sub-centres.
Meanwhile, Lyngdoh, who said that this is the first time these issues have been brought to her attention, acknowledged that the issues brought to her were genuine and need the government’s immediate attention.
She further informed that the group also brought to her attention the fact that the service rules of pharmacists remain pending.
The minister will hold a consultation with unemployed pharmacists on October 29. A committee, which will be headed by Commissioner and Secretary Joram Beda, will also be formed. Beda will look at all of these concerns and find out the reasons behind the non-employment of qualified pharmacists.
The pharmacist group also urged the minister to appoint more drug inspectors, saying that there are not enough in all the districts of Meghalaya.
“There are not enough drug inspectors,” Lyngdoh admitted. “So this is a big gap. How will the inspections happen when officers are insufficient? So this is one side of the story. Let me find out what the situation is since it’s very unfortunate… We cannot allow this to happen because we have seen that it is now creating a lot of problems in the community and the society around us,” emphasised Lyngdoh.
In the past few days Lyngdoh has also met with AYUSH practitioners and dentists, who have raised matters regarding their professions with the minister.
