Since the abrogation of Article 370 (special status given to Jammu and Kashmir), thousands of people/students have lost their faith in education in Jammu and Kashmir. On October 5, 2020, the Pharmacy Act of India, 1948, was implemented by the Government of India in the UT of J&K. The new law came as a jolt for thousands of Medical Assistant/Pharmacist students in Jammu and Kashmir.
Medical Assistant is a two-year diploma in Pharmacy and Clinical Training courses in Jammu and Kashmir that has come under recognition with the Jammu and Kashmir Assembly Act within the Constitution of the erstwhile State of Jammu and Kashmir. But as soon as the Pharmacy Act 1948 was implemented, the administration denied drug license registration to all the Medical assistant/Pharmacist certificate holders. Since then, students have been protesting for their rights at the Press Colony in Srinagar, GMC Srinagar and once outside the Civil Secretariat.
These students were assured by the authorities of the J&K Administration that their matter will be sorted out by taking this matter with the PCI (Pharmacy Council of India). And when students kept approaching the Drug Controller of Srinagar/Jammu, they answered that it is the PCI that will decide whether Medical Assistants are eligible for Drug License.
There are around 2,400 Medical Assistants/Pharmacists in Government service and more than 10,000 candidates who have either completed or are pursuing the course of Medical Assistant/Pharmacist from the institutions duly recognised by the erstwhile J&K Para Medical Council but not registered under the J&K Pharmacy Act.