Institutional Distinctiveness

In its mission to provide ideal ambience of learning and to develop symbiotically with the Society at large, Dr. B. C. Roy College of Pharmacy and Allied Health Sciences (BCRCP), during the last few years has distinguished itself in Online Content Delivery to its students during pandemic and serving the society and community through its unique Pradhan Mantri Bhartiya Janaushadhi Kendra (PMBJK). The performance of these measures has been exemplary.

Online Content Delivery during the Pandemic (Click Here):

• The college had to abruptly shift to online mode of education once the pandemic struck the nation in March 2020.  It was a relatively new realm for the Indian education and as such it took few weeks to getting adjusted to the new normal.  However, to provide ideal ambience of learning, and to keep the system of teaching-learning process running, the faculty and students rose to the occasion and the entire teaching-learning process shifted to online mode from the third week of March 2020. 
• In this context, to enable hassle free content delivery to students in both synchronous and asynchronous mode of teaching as per Govt of India directives for online education, BCRCP instituted an online classroom system through Google Classroom.  Each year of each program was assigned specific classroom in the system and the faculty and students for each such classroom were included. 
• The online live classes were delivered through ZOOM platform for synchronous mode of content delivery, while for enabling students who are in remote locations with difficulty in attending live classes, asynchronous mode was provided through recorded links to the live classes for later viewing at their convenience. 
• Simultaneously, the existing WhatsApp groups for each year and newly formed faculty-student groups were utilized to its full potential for two way communication to overcome any impediment to comprehensive learning. The chat system in Google classroom is also open for such transactions.
• We were forced to close the campus and so was the library.  As a result, students were at a disadvantage of not having books to consult.  In such circumstances, links to books available in the internet were provided through the classrooms.  Faculty further provided links to their own notes for easing the learning process at home in the same interface. 
• To enable students to take advantage of the rich resources of online books, faculty provided notes as well as recorded live classes and PowerPoint presentations of the class for any time access, a template was created for each faculty through which all the above facilities could be provided (sample templates provided in link). 
• The template enabled students to look for any topic taught by a specific faculty date-wise and revisit the contents.  They could download, if they wished, all the content for offline viewing as well.  This was followed for both theory and practical classes.  This unique structure of delivery of content to the students during the pandemic enabled uninterrupted educational transactions during the disruptive time of pandemic.

Pradhan Mantri Bhartiya Janaushadhi Kendra (PMBJK):

• The central government’s aim to provide “quality medicine at affordable price for all” is met through the Pradhan Mantri Bhartiya Janaushadhi Pariyojana (PMBJP) enabled through Pharmaceuticals & Medical Devices Bureau of India (PMBI) [erstwhile Bureau of Public PSU’s of India (BPPI)] under the Dept of Pharmaceuticals, Govt of India.
• The objectives of the scheme are –
  1. Ensure access to quality medicines to all sections of the population especially the poor and the deprived ones
  2. Create awareness about generic medicines through education and publicity to counter the perception that quality is synonymous with high price only
  3. Generate employment by engaging individual entrepreneurs in opening PMBJP Kendra.

• More than 1450 quality generic medicines, 240 surgical instruments and consumable are made available through more than 8500 PMBJKs throughout the country as on date.  The stores are also allowed to sale ayurvedic medicines.
• The medicines pass through rigorous testing for quality in NABL accredited laboratories before releasing to the market. These generic medicines are equivalent in quality to their branded counterparts, but are available at a fraction of the price, making them affordable to the poorest of the society.
• The Pharmacy Council of India (PCI) advised all pharmacy colleges in June 2016 and intermittently afterwards to open PMBJK in college premises as a part of corporate social responsibility to serve the poor and disadvantaged of the locality.  In tune with this directive and as a part of our institute’s social commitment and outreach efforts, the PMBJK (Store code: PMBJK05660) was inaugurated on 4^th July 2019. Ours is the only educational institute in West Bengal to run a PMBJK.
• Our PMBJK operates from 9am to 8.30pm continuously and currently we employ two Pharmacists, a Pharmacy aid and a computer operator to run the store and it has achieved break-even within a short span of time after opening.
• The PMBJK caters to all employees and students in the campus besides the people of all economic class in Durgapur and beyond.
• Particularly, during the pandemic, it was found to do exceptionally well as we operated the store continuously without interruption.  Consequential to the dwindling livelihood of the poor in the locality during the lockdown, the affordability of the medicines from our PMBJK helped these people tide the medicine needs during the hard times.
• The benefitted people’s verbal testimony to the people manning the store and their repeated visits monthly is a testament of success of the store.
• Through the PMBJK, we arrange health camps for free blood pressure and blood sugar check up in association with The Mission Hospital, Durgapur.  It also supports the Medical Center in the campus. 
• Besides the community, the PMBJK is a unique channel to showcase the entrepreneurship opportunity to our students and an outlet for community service and training.
• In a nutshell, this unique activity of the college has uplifted the public image of the college and the governing Society in the community.