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One achiever, many milestones

Prof B Suresh, President, Pharmacy Council of India has made notable contributions to the pharmacy profession in the country. Sapna Dogra narrates his successs story

Prof Suresh has always excelled in whatever he planned to do. Born into a business family in Vellore in 1959, Suresh spent his early childhood in the historic city. He was a sharp child, who wanted to collect a number of certificates. This led him to participate in every school activity. The drive still exists in him to bring innovations in the profession of pharmacy.

After passing out from Voorhees High School at Bangalore, Suresh enrolled for a B.Pharma course at the Madras Medical College in 1976. Interestingly, Suresh wanted to join medicine and his parents also wanted him to do MBBS. However, destiny had other plans. He says, "It was the time of the ‘emergency’ and rules and regulations were being changed. Hence, despite getting three distinctions, I was unable to get a seat in a medical college."

He was not interested in studying Bachelor in Dental Surgery (BDS). "It would not have been challenging sitting in a room and pulling out teeth. I was fascinated by pharma industry in general and pharmacy profession in particular and I knew I would do well in this field." After graduating in 1980, Suresh enrolled himself for post-graduation in pharmacology in 1980 at the Government College of Pharmacy in Bangalore.

The turning point

After post-graduation, while dreaming of going to US he came across a vacancy for the post of lecturer at JSS College of Pharmacy in Ooty. He joined the institute in August 1982. Subsequently, he got admitted to Idaho State University (its pharmacy college is regarded as one of the best in western United States).

In the meantime, a team from the Pharmacy Council of India (PCI) had come to JSS College for inspection and since the people concerned were not available, Suresh took charge of the situation and handled it so well that he was asked to take-over as the principal. However, he declined the offer saying that he might be leaving in March for the US. Finally, in March 1982, when he expressed his desire to leave the institute, the head of the institute, Suttur Swamiji asked him what was his objective in life? Did he intend to settle down abroad? Suresh replied that he just wanted to get some experience and exposure and would eventually come back to India. Swamiji asked him to stay back, take up the principal's post and promised him all the support and freedom to run the institute. He also told Suresh that he would get many chances for international exposure. "Swamiji also exhorted me to start PG courses and convert the existing diploma course into a degree," says Suresh and adds, "I was in a dilemma." Eventually, he decided to stay back and this made him one of the youngest principals at 22 years of age.

Life at JSS

After taking over as the principal, Suresh started a slew of reformatory programmes and activities, which were in tune with modern pharma education. In 1984, JSS became the first private pharmacy college in Tamil Nadu to start a B.Pharma course. This was followed by post graduation course in 1988.

The ambitious streak in Suresh wouldn't let him rest on his laurels and whenever he would think of a change of job, challenges would come before him and keep him busy. In 1988, Suresh registered for PhD at the Pasteur Institute in Coonoor for a project on anti-fungal drug development.

He got his PhD in 1992. Immediately after that, JSS became a recognised institute for PhD programmes. "This happened because of step-wise development and progress that was undertaken by the institute," claims Suresh. Under his guidance, JSS College of Pharmacy emerged into a centre for conducting advanced herbal drug research in association with various agencies, besides excellence in pharmacy education.

Association with PCI

Suresh became a member of PCI in 1995, and in 2003 he was elected as the President of the association. "It is important to be at the helm of affairs if one wants to bring in substantial changes in a set up," says Suresh and adds that he was not satisfied with All India Council For Technical Educa-tion (AICTE) as the regulatory body for pharmacy colleges and he wanted PCI to regulate pharma colleges. "At PCI, I started the momentum for amending the Pharmacy Act, which was 50 years old and no amendment had been made previously. By making amendments to Section 26 of the Pharmacy Act, the PCI is aiming at implementing more strict conditions and ethics related to pharmacy practices. I also want to see pharmacists in the country having the right to practice the profession by prescribing medicines and levying charges for the same and the amendment in the Act will take care of this aspect as well," he says.

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