Latest news with #MilindUmekar
Time of India
8 hours ago
- Health
- Time of India
Lens on new pharmacy colleges in Maharashtra over complaints about forged maps, NOCs, occupancy certificates for approvals
Mumbai: Pharmacy colleges established in the state over the last three years have come under scrutiny following complaints about forged documents, including certified maps and occupation certificates for buildings, being submitted for approvals. More than 115 colleges offering B Pharm and nearly 200 offering D Pharm have emerged during this period. Acting on these complaints, state govt has ordered a re-inspection of all such institutions to verify the authenticity of their documents and whether they meet all the requirements. The aim is to contain the mushrooming of colleges in the state and prevent vacancies of seats during admissions. Data from the Directorate of Technical Education (DTE) shows that over 30% of seats remained vacant last year in both B Pharm and D Pharm courses in the state. In a recent order, govt stated that several complaints were received by the higher and technical education minister regarding pharmacy, diploma, degree, and postgraduate institutions that were granted approval by submitting bogus documents such as certified maps, no-objection certificates (NOCs), occupancy certificates, and utility certificates to state and central govts. The order directed: "The validity of these documents should be verified with the relevant authorities, and an institution-wise inspection report should be submitted to confirm whether adequate educational facilities are available. by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like Novi ortopedski sandali za moške poletje 2025. Fiippy KUPITE ZDAJ Undo " The Pharmacy Council of India (PCI) gives approval to new institutions once affiliating universities and respective state govts provide them with NOCs. Milind Umekar, president of the Indian Pharmaceutical Congress Association, a federation of five pharmaceutical associations, highlighted two key reasons behind the rapid increase in pharmacy institutions in Maharashtra. "The demand for pharmacy courses surged after the Covid-19 pandemic, as people began recognising growing opportunities in the pharmaceutical industry, including research, clinical studies, pharmacovigilance, formulation and development, and drug or vaccine manufacturing. India ranks third globally in drug production by volume and is among the top exporters. Secondly, before 2022, the PCI imposed a moratorium on setting up new institutes. Once this was lifted following a court order, several colleges rushed to introduce pharmacy programmes," he said, adding that a comprehensive re-inspection exercise is crucial to ensure all institutions meet PCI norms, including the required number of qualified faculty, infrastructure, and laboratories. A representative from a college management said that in the last three years, many colleges were given NOCs by the respective universities, mainly Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar Technological University (BATU) Lonere, without any physical inspection and based on documents submitted by the institutions. "BATU has the highest number of affiliated pharmacy colleges in the state, and most may have come up in the last three years. The university, set up exclusively for technical colleges in the state, faces a severe shortage of manpower, impacting the quality of education in the affiliated institutions," he alleged. A govt official said that officials from the Maharashtra State Board of Technical Education and DTE have started carrying out the inspection exercise, adding that no timeline has been provided.
Indian Express
14 hours ago
- Business
- Indian Express
Pharmacy education boom: amid forgery complaints, Maharashtra to reinspect colleges approved in last 3 years
Amid increasing concerns over mushrooming pharmacy colleges in Maharashtra leading to seats lying vacant, the state higher and technical education department has ordered a reinspection of colleges approved in the past three academic years. These institutions offering diploma, degree, and postgraduate courses in pharmacy allegedly submitted forged documents to obtain approvals from the central and state governments. According to the order on the reinspection of pharmacy colleges granted approvals in 2022-23, 2023-24, and 2024-25, the action is following complaints that these institutions submitted forged documents such as certified maps, non-agricultural certificates, possession certificates, utility certificates, etc., to the central and state governments. Instructing the Maharashtra State Board of Technical Education (MSBTE) to reinspect all these colleges, the order states, 'The validity of the submitted documents must be verified with the concerned authorities and a detailed institution-wise inspection report must be submitted, stating whether all required academic facilities are adequately available in these institutions.' The Directorate of Technical Education (DTE) has now issued a letter asking regional joint directions to conduct verification of required documents in accordance with the standard inspection format prescribed by the Pharmacy Council of India. According to the DTE, there has been a considerable surge in the number of pharmacy colleges since the Covid pandemic, owing to greater awareness among students and parents about various career opportunities in India in the pharma sector. As a result, several colleges have come up. In the 2022-23 academic year, there were 396 colleges offering 31,810 seats in the undergraduate Bachelor of Pharmacy courses. It increased to 515 colleges offering 41,282 seats in the academic year 2024-25. But a total of 12,714 seats remained vacant in B Pharma last year. Whereas in Diploma in Pharmacy, from 492 colleges offering 29,350 seats in academic year 2022-23, the number jumped to 685 colleges offering 40,570 seats in academic year 2024-25, when D Pharma recorded a vacancy of 12,404 seats. Highlighting this surge, a senior DTE officer, said, 'With the increasing number of colleges, there is considerable vacancy in pharmacy courses. With students not taking admission to these colleges, there must be some issues with them, especially inadequate facilities required to run the course such as infrastructure, manpower among all. This reinspection will provide clarity.' Welcoming the move, Dr Milind Umekar, national president of the Association of Pharmaceutical Teachers of India, said, 'Traditionally, a pharmacy college was allowed to offer masters course only after having ten successful years of offering bachelors' degree. But among the new lot of colleges, especially those mushrooming post Covid, several started with approval to offer both courses, without much inspection on whether they have qualified faculty and research facilities to offer higher level courses. The physical inspections will now ensure more accountability.' Colleges
