Mumbai: Even as pharmacy admissions are set to commence in the state, the fate of 128 colleges offering D Pharm and 44 offering B Pharm hangs in the balance for not complying with the Pharmacy Council of India norms.
The Directorate of Technical Education (DTE) recently issued show-cause notices to these institutions, stating that they would not be allowed to admit students in their first-year batches until they address the deficiencies pointed out after an inspection.
The responses from institutions are under review now. The state govt directed a re-inspection of pharmacy institutions that were granted approval in academic years 2022-23, 2023-24, and 2024-25, after receiving complaints about forged documents, including certified maps and occupation certificates. There were 115 such B Pharm colleges and nearly 200 offering D Pharm that were re-inspected.
The exercise was carried out to verify the authenticity of their approvals and whether they comply with all the council’s norms. After inspection, several institutes were found to have deficiencies. While a tentative order was passed earlier, announcing that such colleges would not be allowed to admit students in their first year, a circular dated August 26 was recently issued with all their names.
The circular mentioned that the list of all degree/diploma institutions which were served show-cause notices should be prominently displayed by the DTE, the affiliating universities, and also the Maharashtra State Board of Technical Education on their websites as well as on the admission portal for the benefit of applicants. It further added that admissions to the first year should not be permitted until the concerned institutions comply with the necessary requirements mentioned in the notice.
A department official said they have received responses from many colleges, and these will be presented to the govt, and a decision will be taken soon on adding these colleges to this year’s admission process. Currently, the state’s CET cell has issued the provisional merit list for students, and they have been given time to get their grievances resolved. An official said the final merit list will be announced soon, and in the meantime, the DTE is also likely to release the seat matrix. “Once the seat matrix is out, we will start the process for choice filling,” said an official. Students and parents, however, are wary of delays in the entire process. For the last few years, admissions to pharmacy colleges have been marred with delays over the compliance of regulatory norms.
