With no mention of M.Tech (biotechnology) in the revised draft regulation of Pharmacy Council of India (PCI) for teachers of pharmacy colleges, majority pharmacy colleges in Andhra Pradesh and Telangana are throwing out existing faculty with biotechnology background as ineligible. Because of this, teachers holding M.Tech (biotechnology) are in a state of confusion and fearing losing their jobs.

According to revised regulations of PCI, the draft says that all pharmacy teachers must possess a basic degree recognized by the PCI in pharmacy obtained from an examining authority (University) approved by the PCI under section 12 of the Pharmacy Act, 1948; and at the same time the candidate should be registered in the register of pharmacists maintained by a State Pharmacy Council.   However, the appointing authority can also consider the candidatures of the holders of equivalent qualifications approved and notified by the Pharmacy Council of India from time to time.

The biotechnology candidates are accommodated under equivalent qualification provision approved by the PCI. But pharmacy colleges are ignoring this fact mentioned in the draft regulations and blindly going by other literal provisions and taking only those candidates with M.Pharm/Pharm.D or Ph.D qualifications who have undergone B.Pharm course as recognised as pharmacy teachers.

Tirupataiah, a faculty with M.Tech (biotech) from a leading pharmacy college, said that because of no mention of M.Tech (biotech) in the revised draft regulations for teachers the experienced teaching faculty holding M.tech (biotech) are now in a confusion and fearing they may be removed by the college managements.  “Recently a woman lecturer with M.Tech biotechnology, serving as Assistant Professor in a pharmacy college is told to resign her job. The reason given by the college is that her qualification is not mentioned in the recently revised PCI regulations and after teaching for more than 10 years, now she is found to be ineligible for teaching and thrown out on the road. This has created a sense of confusion among the college managements and existing teaching faculty with M.Tech biotechnology background.  In some cases, taking this as a pretext, some college managements are outrightly removing highly experienced faculty with more than 10 years experience and curtailing their chances of promotions,” said Tirupataiah.

However, the PCI has also mentioned in its revised draft regulation that candidates with M.Sc (Zoology/botany) are also eligible to teach related pharmacy subjects. But there is no literal mentioning of M.Tech (biotechnology) as requisite qualification for a candidate to be lecturer to teach the related subjects in the pharmacy colleges.

Taking advantage of this, the college managements are throwing out the most experienced faculty members with M.Tech biotechnology background who have already served more than 10 years.

“Even though the teaching draft regulation has mention in it that candidates with equivalent courses (includes biotechnology) approved by PCI are eligible as teachers in their respective subjects, the college managements are not taking cognizance of this and going by literal script of the draft as it is. We have already represented to the PCI president B. Suresh about the issue and have requested him to revise the regulations and facilitate the candidates with biotechnology background to be eligible as faculty in their related subjects,” added Tirupataiah.

Particularly, the subjects like bio-informatics, genomics and genomic drug delivery systems are some of the subjects that need candidates with biotechnology background to teach them in the pharmacy colleges. PCI president B. Suresh has also mentioned in his mails to some of the faculty members clarifying their doubts that the M.Tech biotechnology is an approved subject next only to B.Pharmcy to be eligible to teach in pharmacy colleges. But the college managements are not obliging with this and going by literal script drafted in the regulation. In view of the prevailing confusion, the M.Tech biotechnology graduates and faculty members who are working in various colleges across both the states have demanded immediate revision of the teaching regulations by the PCI and seeking justice from the government.