New Delhi : The Pharmacy Council of India (PCI) has asked all the admission making authorities to strictly verify the 10+2 documents of candidates before taking admission in any pharmacy courses to avoid any legal issues.
In a circular issued to all the institutions and universities and all Pharmacy Councils in the States and Union Territories, the PCI said that the verification of basic qualification, that is 10+2 documents, is mandatory in nature. The circular comes in the wake of some issues related to this that came up in recent times, according to sources.
The admission qualification to various pharmacy courses including the two-year D.Pharm course, four-year B.Pharm course and six-year Pharm.D course are 10+2 in the science academic stream with physics, chemistry, mathematics or biology as mandatory.
The same is regulated by the statutory provisions of the Education Regulations framed under Section 10 of the Pharmacy Act, 1948 – including the Education Regulations, 2020 for Diploma Course in Pharmacy, The Bachelor of Pharmacy (B.Pharm) Course Regulations, 2014 and the Pharm.D Regulations, 2008 – and it is mandatory in nature, it added.
The PCI said that the registration of pharmacists under the Pharmacy Act, 19498 is based on the minimum statutory requirements including that the applicant should have attained the age of 18 years and pay the prescribed fee, the applicant should reside or carry on the business or profession of pharmacy in the State and most importantly, the application should have passed an approved examination or he or she should possess a qualification approved under the Section 14 of the Pharmacy Act or is a registered pharmacist in another state.
It may be noted that last year, the PCI has raised alarm on an institution conducting public examinations and issued certificates for secondary and senior secondary levels while it only had that status of a minority educational institution approved by the National Commission for Minority Educational Institutions (NCMEI) and not as a Minority Education Board.
In July 2015, while considering the qualification for admission in pharmacy courses, the Council decided to approve a pass from the Open school education system of the Central government or state government institutions for admission of various pharmacy courses for the purpose of registration as a pharmacist.
An Executive Committee of the Council in a meeting held on August, 2015, decided to recommend this decision to the Central council for its ratification, stating that the students of such open schools who have already passed or are undergoing pharmacy courses shall be treated as eligible for registration as a pharmacist under the Pharmacy Act, 1948 subject to fulfilment of the other prescribed conditions of registration under the Act.
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