The AP Government Appoints two Women to the State Pharmaceutical Council

By: WE Staff | Thursday, 8 December 2022

In an effort to boost women's participation in the regulation of the pharmacy profession, the Andhra Pradesh government has nominated five people to the state pharmacy council, including two women faculty members (AP SPC).

The two women were two of the five nominees the government put forth for the council. The two women running for the AP SPC are Drs. Pulipati Soujanya and Kusuma Kumari Sadi.

At PHC Kalingapatanam, Dr. Kusuma Kumari works as a Grade 2 pharmacist, and Dr. Soujanya teaches pharmaceutical biotechnology at the Vijnan College of Pharmacy in Guntur.

In compliance with Section 19 (under clause b) of the Pharmacy Act of 1948, the government has nominated SLN Prasad Reddy from Visakhapatnam, Ravindra Reddy Kandula from Kadapa, and Galla Durga Prasad from West Godavari, along with two female members, to the state pharmacy council. Five years prior, the seats had been vacant.

It is well known that SLN Prasad Reddy is the head of a pharmacy college in Visakhapatnam, and that Durga Prasad and Ravindra Reddy are businessmen in the pharmaceutical industry.

Until six further members are elected by licenced pharmacists and additional members are nominated by the government, both the nominated and elected members may continue to serve, in accordance with Pharmacy Act regulations.

Last year, Ms. Malhotra, Ms. Mazumdar-Shaw, and Ms. Nayar also made the elite list, landing in positions 52, 72, and 88, respectively.

According to the Forbes list, Ms. Mazumdar-Shaw is ranked 72 this year and Ms. Nayar is ranked 89.

The list consists of 11 billionaires with a combined net worth of $115 billion, 39 CEOs, and 10 heads of state.

The Forbes list highlighted Ms. Nayar's career, noting that the 59-year-old businesswoman "worked as an investment banker for two decades, overseeing IPOs and helping other entrepreneurs accomplish their objectives. She made the decision to go into business for herself in 2012 and invested $2 million of her own funds to start the cosmetics and retail business Nykaa.

According to the official circular announced on December 5, these five members will hold the position for a period of five years from the date of nomination or until their replacements are duly nominated, whichever is longer.

Six elected members of the AP council are now serving, with two representing Telangana and four representing Andhra Pradesh geographically, according to Annappareddy Vijayabhaskar Reddy, a former president of the AP SPC (Combined AP). However, they may continue to serve as members in conformity with the legislation until the newly elected individuals have the power to form the government.

Now that the government has nominated five members and there are four ex-officio members, there is no longer any difficulty in assembling the council.

According to Annappareddy, he will soon meet with the nominees with the assistance of other elected members and they will jointly request approval from the government to establish the SPC as soon as feasible. The members will ask the registrar to set up a combined meeting of the elected and nominated members to discuss matters relevant to the council's constitution.

N Ramamurthy, the council's registrar, told Pharmabiz that although his office hasn't yet received the government order designating the members, it will in two days via the usual routes.

After receiving the circular, he will speak with the President-in-Charge, who is the director general of the drug control division.

Although Andhra Pradesh was divided into two states in 2014 and Telangana and Andhra Pradesh each have their own pharmacist councils, the registration, documentation, and voter list compilation procedures have not yet been completed in either state. With the existing members, provisional councils were nonetheless constituted by both states. However, in Andhra Pradesh, the council was dissolved as a result of a court disagreement between the elected president and an ex-officio member. In response to the court's intervention, which asked that an investigation be conducted, the government elevated the director general of the drug control agency to the position of council president.

Annappareddy has the December 5 circular in her possession, and he is certain that the government would soon grant him request to immediately form the council given the presence of a quorum of elected, nominated, and ex-officio members.

The elected and nominated members told Pharmabiz that they would request the registrar to arrange a meeting of all the members for the following week so they could determine whether to contact the government. Pharmabiz contacted the elected officials Bhojji Reddy from Thirupati, Sudarsan Rao from Visakhapatnam, and Dr. Soujanya from Guntur in addition to the former council president Annappareddy.

While this is going on, some pharmacists and some members have voiced their displeasure with the registrar, stating that he is not returning their calls or emails, and they are preparing to file a complaint with the government to have him removed from his post.