The Government has decided to introduce ‘The Indian Medicine and Homoeopathy Pharmacy Central Council Bill, 2016’.  The objective of this Bill is to set up regulatory framework at the Central as well as State level for standardization and quality control of education and practice of pharmacy in Ayurveda, Siddha, Unani Tibb and Homoeopathy and to maintain registers of the pharmacists. Provisions of the proposed Bill are distributed under seven chapters and 58 sections respectively for Definitions, Central Pharmacy Council and its Committees, Regulation of Pharmacy Education & Practice, State Pharmacy Authority and Registration of Pharmacists, Central Register of Pharmacists, Offences & Penalties and Miscellaneous. 

The Government circulated the draft Bill to the States & Union Territories and also placed it on the website of the Ministry of AYUSH in February 2016 for inviting comments of the stakeholders and public within a stipulated timeframe. The received comments mainly pertained to experience-based registration of the pharmacists; qualification of the pharmacy teachers; qualification of the members of the Pharmacy council and license requirement for sale of drugs. After considering these comments the draft Bill has been sent to the Ministry of Law & Justice for final concurrence before the note for seeking approval of the Cabinet is circulated.

This information was given by the Minister of State (Independent Charge) for AYUSH, Shri ShripadYesso Naik in written reply to a question in Lok Sabha today.

NB/SK