Norms appear to have been made only for flouting when it comes to the Pharmacy education institutions in the southern states as most of these institutions are alleged to be working without qualified faculties, much against the norms set by the All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE).

While malpractices rule the roost in these educational institutions, what has surprised those in the field of pharmacy education is the role of the AICTE. Though the AICTE officials from Delhi used to conduct periodic surprise visits to the pharmacy colleges earlier, of late it has become the thing of the past.

According to informed sources, many colleges in the southern states have either no Principal or are under-qualified. The teachers in these colleges are also not qualified as per the AICTE norms and the University has been finding it difficult to conduct the examinations. "In Kerala alone, there are around 26 colleges approved by the AICTE (as on October 2006). But many of them have no senior level faculty. And some of the faculty members are simply diploma holders, which is against the AICTE norms. And few of them don't even have teaching staff, only qualified Principals are there," said the sources.

As per AICTE norms, a lecturer is supposed to have first class in Masters Degree in appropriate branches of specialization. The assistant professor is supposed to have a PhD with first class in Masters or B Pharm or have 2 years experience or a first class masters degree and five years teaching experience. Whereas, the Professors are supposed to have Ph D with 10 years experience, or equivalent qualification. The principal is also supposed to have qualifications similar to that of the professors.

According to the source, earlier a member secretary of the AICTE used to conduct surprise visits to these colleges to ensure that AICTE norms are complied with in these institutions. But it has become a thing of the past now, as the post is lying vacant. "Earlier, there were fears due to the sudden visits of the AICTE officials, but it is no longer there," said the source.

Earlier the AICTE team used to have confidential meeting with the students and faculty separately as part of the surprise inspections to unearth the malpractices, but the sad part is that even this is not followed now. "When inspections are carried out by the AICTE team, it is supposed to have a representative from the respective university to identify the faculty members. But except in Karnataka no other southern states have been following this procedure," said the source.

Apart from this, it is mandatory as per AICTE norms that the pharmacy colleges should provide the complete profile of the Professors, assistant professors and the principal in the information brochure and the institution's official website. But the irony is that many colleges do not follow this procedure.

When such issues were conveyed to the AICTE officials they said that their team would take actions against colleges that do not comply with their rules. Sources said that the public could bring to notice the discrepancies in pharmacy colleges by filing complaints in AICTE's complaint cell.