Maharashtra: Pharma Body Urges States To Resume College Admissions After Approval Delay

Mumbai: After a delay of almost two months, the Pharmacy Council of India (PCI), the apex regulator of Pharma education, has finally given a greenlight for states to begin admissions to their Pharmacy colleges.

In a letter on Sunday, PCI, has requested all the state governments to start the admission process for those institutes which have received the regulator's approval for the academic year 2024-25.

With the approval process scheduled to continue till November 30, more institutes would be added during the course of admissions. The admissions to some of the other professional courses such as engineering and management are already over.

The instructions come after the Maharashtra government as well as Pharma colleges across the country pushed PCI to speed up its annual approvals for the new as well as existing programmes. The delay in the approval process, which has become a recurring problem during the last few years, stalled the admission process for all three levels of Pharmacy education - diploma, degree and master's. The state fears that the deferring admissions would result in poor enrollment, as the students might opt for other disciplines.

PCI, in its communication to the states, said that the approval process for 'almost all' the existing institutes has been completed, even as the applications to start new colleges or add new courses and raise intake at existing institutes are still being examined.

However, an official from the state Directorate of Technical Education (DTE) had last week told FPJ that the majority of colleges in the state are yet to receive their Extension of Approval (EOA).

In its representation to PCI last month, the state said that the academic year is expected to begin in July and continue till May-June, but thanks to the deferred admissions, the students will likely lose several months of classes.

The government also pointed out that while the All India Council of Technical Education (AICTE), which regulates engineering and management colleges, has fixed September 15 as the cut-off date for admission, while PCI has extended the approvals till November 30.

While the admissions calendar had gone for a toss even last year, there was a further delay this year due to a petition filed earlier this year by some Pharma institutes challenging the necessity of yearly approval for continuation of their courses and sought a one-time approval instead. While a single-judge bench of the court accepted the plea, the decision was later stayed by a division bench of the court.

In the last few years, the state has witnessed a proliferation of Pharmacy colleges, with the number of institutes offering Bachelor of Pharmacy (BPharm) growing from168 to 453 between 2016-17 and 2023-24. This spike resulted in almost one-third of 42,000 available seats without takes as the enrollment has remained static during the last three years, after an exponential rise earlier.

19-Year-Old B Pharma Student Hangs Self After English Teacher Files 'Fake' Rape Complaint In Indore; Instagram Chat Revealed

The large-scale vacancy prompted the state to demand PCI to impose a ban on new courses and institutes in this academic year, which was accepted by the regulator. However, the decision was revoked by the Bombay High Court in May, saying that PCI was not justified in issuing a blanket direction not to grant permission to any new pharmacy institute or increase existing institutes' intake capacity.