To press for their demand for recruitment in the vacant positions of Pharmacists in the Government hospitals of the State the unemployed diploma pharmacist association of Uttarakhand held a rally on Friday. The unemployed diploma pharmacists gathered at the protest site at the old Raipur bus stand and marched towards the statehood martyrs' memorial at Tehsil.
Addressing the gathering the president of pharmacists association Manoj Tripathi said that the state government should immediately fill more than 4000 posts of pharmacists in various hospitals of state as the government has not recruited pharmacists since the creation of the state. He said that the thousands of diploma pharmacists of Uttarakhand are waiting endlessly for government to initiate recruitment. Tripathi added that the association is determined to take their agitation to logical end this time. He said that the state government is following the norm laid down in the year 1980 for pharmacists which should changed by restructuring the pharmacy cadre of the state government.
The Vice president of the association Sunil Nath said that after creation of Uttarakhand the state government continuously neglected the diploma pharmacists. He blamed the state government for ignoring health facilities of state as large numbers of positions of pharmacists are lying vacant despite increase in the population.
The agitation of the association entered its 12th day on Friday. There are more than 8500 unemployed allopathic diploma pharmacists in Uttarakhand and they are up in arms against the state government in support of their demand for government job.