‘Fake certificates’: Cancel State Pharmacy Council elections, assn urges Punjab Govt

Sangrur, August 7

The Para Medical and Health Employees’ Front, has urged the Punjab Government to cancel the election process of the Punjab State Pharmacy Council.

Members of the front also demanded cancellation of registration of all individuals, registered on the basis of “fake certificates” or Class XII certificates from unrecognised boards and their removal from the voter list.

Swaranjit Singh, convener, Para Medical and Health Employees’ Front, said the elections were being held to elect six members of the Punjab State Pharmacy Council. He said the candidates were filing their nominations.

Swaranjit added that the decision of the Punjab Government with regard to conducting elections to the Punjab State Pharmacy Council was not only injustice with the registered pharmacists but also “illegal” until the names of “ineligible” registered individuals were excluded from the voter list. He said a complaint had been registered on August 15, 2014, in this regard. He claimed that the Vigilance Bureau found during the probe that certain pharmacy colleges in Punjab had enrolled students into diploma courses on the basis of “fake certificates” or Class XII certificates from unrecognised boards.

Swaranjit said the Vigilance Bureau had also mentioned in the report that the verification process of the certificates from 2000 to 2013, ordered by the Punjab Government and conducted by the Directorate of Medical Education and Research, had not been completed yet. Out of 17,000 individuals, only 3,100 appeared for verification, he added.

He said no action had been taken to cancel the registrations of those pharmacists whose certificates were found to be suspicious. He said the Pharmacy Council also ignored the government’s order to cancel the registrations of individuals with fake certificates. — OC