Question

History of profesdion of pharmacy in india in relation to pharmacy education

Answer 1

The allopathic system of medicine was introduced in India during the British rule. It was mainly meant for the ruling class. By the 19th century it became popular and was used for the common people also. In the beginning the medicines were imported from Europe. Later they were manufactured in India.
The Bengal Chemical and Pharmaceutical Works was set up by Acharya P.C. Ray in 1901 in Calcutta. Prof. T.K. Gujjar set up a small factory in Bombay at Parel in 1903 and the Alembic Chemical Works in 1907 at Baroda.
The import of drugs was stopped during the First World War. It was resumed after the war. There was no restriction on the quality of the imported drugs so there were inferior quality drugs in the markets. Therefore a number of Acts were passed to regulate the quality of drugs.
In 1930 a committee was appointed under the leadership of Col. R.N. Chopra to look into the issues related to the Pharmacy in India. It reported that Pharmacy did not exist as a specialized profession. After this Prof. Mahadeva Lal Schroff started the pharmaceutical education in the Banaras Hindu University.
The United Province Pharmaceutical Association was set up in 1935 which later became the Indian Pharmaceutical Association. In 1939 Prof. Mahadeva Lal Schroff started the Indian Journal of Pharmacy. The All India Pharmaceutical Congress Association was set up in 1940 which held its sessions at various places and tried to publicize the idea of Pharmacy. To regulate the manufacture, import, distribution and sale of drugs the Drugs Act of 1940 was adopted.