Union minister for chemical & fertilisers and steel Ram Vilas Paswan, chief minister Tarun Gogoi and health minister Himata Biswas Sarma during the inauguration of the National Institute of Pharmaceutical Education and Research (NIPER) at ITA complex in Machkhowa on Tuesday. Picture by Eastern Projections

Sept. 16: Union minister for chemicals & fertilisers and steel Ram Vilas Paswan inaugurated the Guwahati chapter of the National Institute of Pharmaceutical Education and Research (NIPER) at the Gauhati Medical College and Hospital today.

The state capital is the fifth city where the NIPER has been set up to prepare professionals to suit the need of the pharmaceutical industry. The GMCH has been chosen as the mentor institute of the NIPER, Guwahati.

Paswan, who formally declared the institute open during a function at Pragjyoti ITA centre in Machkhowa, said it would not only cater to the requirement of highly trained manpower for the pharmaceutical industry but will also serve as a catalyst in setting up pharma industry in the state.

Thanking chief minister Tarun Gogoi and his government for their support and co-operation in facilitating the establishment of NIPER, he said Dispur had already allotted 100 acres of land on the outskirts of the city to set up the permanent campus of the institute.

“The Centre will spend nearly Rs 200 to 250 crore to set up the full-fledged NIPER within 3 years,” he added.

In 2006, Gogoi had requested Paswan to set up a branch of the institute in the state and the Union minister had promised to do so.

GMCH principal M.M. Deka, who will also be the director (in-charge) of NIPER, Guwahati, said the GMCH would serve as the mentor institute till the permanent campus of the centre for higher education and research was ready.

He said the institute had already started classes in two disciplines at the GMCH building on Narakasur Hill. Altogether 20 students have taken admission into pharmacology and toxicology and pharmacy practice courses. The duration of the courses is three years.

“The selection of GMCH as the mentor institute is a matter of pride. There was no institute in the state to promote pharmaceutical education and research despite the fast and tremendous growth of pharmaceutical industry. The prime objective of the institute is to study the sociological aspects of drug use and abuse as well as rural pharmacy. It will conduct programmes on drug surveillance, community pharmacy and pharmaceutical management,” he added.

Deka said the opening of NIPER in the city was a good opportunity for all those who wanted to study pharmacology and toxicology. He said there was a growing demand for these subjects and it had got good career options.

“The GMCH will also benefit as the mentor institute of NIPER. The GMCH has a pharmacology department, which offers facilities for postgraduate courses. The NIPER’s functioning from GMCH premises will encourage students to do research on the use of drugs and drug testing,” a faculty member of the medical college and hospital said.