Deadlock over, Assam Pharmacy Council to go for poll in Feb

GUWAHATI: Decks have been cleared for elections to the Assam Pharmacy Council (APC), which has been non-existent for a year due to a court case filed by a pharmacy association- Assam Registered Pharmacy Union (ARPU) challenging the election procedure conducted by the APC.

The notification for the election to APC was published on January 2023 in online mode following which 19 registered pharmacists filed nominations. However, ARSU moved the court challenging the election procedure followed by the APC accusing the council has violating election rules as per APC Election Manuel, 1959. 

The Gauhati High Court ordered for withdrawal of the online voting system and directed the council to conduct elections according to existing APC rules 1959.

Following this, the APC returning officer Munindra Chandra again moved the High Court seeking its directive to give equal opportunity to place their view before a single bench judge and accordingly, the court allowed the petitioner.

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“In this in-between time, the original petitioner ARPU was found somewhat reluctant where problems of new pass-out students were increasing day by day failed to get their fresh registration as pharmacists,” Association of Advanced Pharmacy Practitioners (AAPP) president Birendra Kumar Barman and general secretary Gynandra Haloi told reporters here on Saturday.

“We decided to hold a meeting of all pharmacists of the state on August 13 which gave a mandate to AAPP to start negotiation talks will all stakeholders. We did it and appealed before the High Court to permit for holding the election to APC through postal ballots,” they said.

“Finally, the Gauhati High Court on December 19 directed the council to hold the elections within three months through ballots,” they also said.

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“Now the election will be conducted within February next. More than 10,000 registered pharmacists across the state will elect the office bearers of the APC,” Barman and Haloi said.

There are six office bearers to be elected while the five members will be nominated by the state government. 

“There were also 3,921 fake pharmacists in the council, which were removed from the list of registered pharmacists, they added.