Life Science Sector Skills Development Council (LSSSDC), established under the auspices of Ministry of Skill Development has mandated Mumbai-based Pollux to upgrade skill-sets among emerging pharmacists to bridge the industry-academia gap.

According to LSSSDC estimates, the employment opportunities in the pharma sector for chemist in quality assurance, quality control and production along with medical representative will double to 657,432 from the prevailing 316,619 on pan India basis over the next eight years by 2024. In Maharashtra alone, the workforce is expected to surge to 197,232 from 94,987 during the same period of eight years.

Sharing his perspective, Ranjit Madan, CEO, LSSSDC, said, "Following a cluster focussed approach, the Council has successfully identified Training Partners in Baddi ( HP), Hyderabad (Telengana), Bengaluru (Karnataka), Chennai (TN), Ahmedabad (Gujarat) and now Pollux in Mumbai, Pune (Maharashtra). We have absolute confidence that Pollux will, starting early 2017, begin developing a pool of high quality workforce for one of the largest clusters of Life Sciences activity in the country, thus giving an impetus to growth of this critical sector."

Over the past two years since its establishment, the council jointly with the industry has developed about 50 "National Occupation Standards", which defines the skill-sets needed to perform the major job roles in the pharmaceutical sector, Madan said.

On a pan-India basis, the council aims to certify skilled workforce of 21 lakh over the next 10 years.

"The thrust would be to create industry specific talent pool by not only imparting knowledge but also improving the employability of pharmacy graduates including soft skills. This process would facilitate smooth transition from education to employment of these pharmacy graduates and in the process reduce the burden on the corporate to mould the new recruits," said Hemant Deshpande, CEO, Pollux, with over three decades of experience in the pharma domain.

LSSSDC has been working hand in hand with the members of the pharma industry including Abbott, Ajanta Pharma, Aurobindo, Baxter, Bayer, Bharat Biotech, Biocon, Cadila Pharma, Wockhardt and Pharmexil among several others.