The Andhra Pradesh and Telangana State (AP & TS) governments have finally decided to fill the admissions to Diploma in Pharmacy courses in more than 64 diploma and polytechnic colleges across both the states.

The much awaited admissions to Diploma of Pharmacy courses for the academic year 2014-15 are to begin from October 8 in both Andhra Pradesh and Telangana State.

To this effect, the state boards of technical education and training (SBTET) in both the states have issued a notification to conduct the certification verification on 8th of October and allow exercising web options for the students for selecting the courses and colleges online on 9th of October and display the allotment results on 10th of October.

The authorities have decided to conduct the certification verification at 3 pre-notified centers in Telangana and 4 centers in Andhra Pradesh.

Earlier, on 28th June this year, the departments of technical education of both states issued notification and allowed the students to apply online from July 2-5, but after that both the governments were at loggerheads with regard to fee reimbursement and other issues related to college approvals because of which the admission counseling has been delayed for almost 2 months.

For the Diploma of Pharmacy course, the Pharmacy Council of India has given approvals to about 64 colleges in both AP and TS. Of which there are 22 colleges in Telangana and 42 colleges in Andhra Pradesh.

The D Pharmacy course is a two academic year pharmacy course. Any candidate who has passed out intermediate with Biology, Mathematics, Physics and Chemistry subjects at junior college level can apply for this course.

“As this course is a short duration pharmacy course and focussed at giving basic knowledge of pharmacy related aspects and pharmaceutical industry, most of the pharma companies prefer to employ diploma graduates in labs and packaging lines. They are not only preferred as medical representatives but are also widely employed as pharmacists for dispensing drugs in medical stores. The D pharmacists are in high demand these days because they are much affordable,” says a polytechnic lecturer, at government polytechnic college, at Masab Tank in Hyderabad.