Pharmacy Council of India (PCI) chairman Dr B Suresh has justified the Council’s decision not to recognize the MS programme in Industrial Pharmaceutics and Pharmaceutical Analysis & Quality Control being conducted by premier institutions including NIPERs in the country on the ground that there is no mandatory infrastructure in these institutions to conduct the MS programmes.

“We don’t know the content and the structure of the course being conducted by these public as well as private institutes. There is no proper infrastructure available in these institutions for conducting a prestigious programme like MS. In Hyderabad NIPER, they have admitted 60-70 students for the MS programme with just two teachers. The situation in Guwahati NIPER is also not different as they have also admitted 60-70 students for MS programme with some visiting faculty alone. Only name of NIPER cannot ensure quality of education”, Dr Suresh said.

The PCI chairman regretted that it is the exploitation of the gullible students who don't know the fact that the MS programme is not recognised by the PCI for pursuing pharmacy teaching profession in the country. But, the course is being run by the NIPERs where the teachers know everything. They are doing this just for money. If government institutions can resort to this kind of practice, what to say about private institutions, he asked.

He said that there is simply no reason why the students who aspire to become pharmacy teachers should join MS programme conducted by these institutes when M.Pharm seats are easily available in other prestigious pharmacy colleges in the country. Many students even do not know that the MS programmes conducted by these institutes are not recognised by the PCI. “So, it was our duty in the interest of the student community to bring to their notice that the MS degree is not recognized by the PCI for teaching purposes. That is why we have announced it in our website”, he said.

Though these students cannot become pharmacy teachers, there are several other avenues for them to pursue in their career in the industry, Dr Suresh said. There are several degrees in medicine, like MRCP, etc which are not recognized by MCI for teaching, but even then doctors go abroad and take the degrees and start practising here, he added.