The Jawaharlal Nehru Technological University (JNTU) Hyderabad decided to allow only 50 out of 90 disqualified pharmacy colleges to participate in the second phase of Eamcet admission counseling for the academic year 2014-15.

Earlier, the JNTU upon inspections of about 150 pharmacy colleges in the state had found almost more than half of them not having adequate facilities like lack of building infrastructure, labs, qualified teaching faculty, library and books etc. Challenging the University’s action, the association of professional colleges’ consortium approached the high court seeking a stay on the varsity’s action. Instead of giving a stay, the high court had asked the university to grant them adequate time to fulfill the requirements of JNTU and AICTE norms and allow all those colleges in to counselling process by the time second phase counseling begins.

Having learned this, about 50 pharmacy colleges have submitted satisfactory particulars and given undertakings to the JNTU that they will fulfill all the stipulated norms in a few days. While the reaming 40 colleges are yet to submit the same, because of which the JNTU has decided to bar all those who have not responded to the university’s order.

It is also learned that the JNTU has put a petition in the high court challenging the order of a single judge ordering the varsity to include certain private engineering colleges in counselling for admission to post-graduate courses in pharmacy. The petitioner colleges have also countered this by saying that so far the JNTU had not informed them about the inadequacies. Hearing this, the bench led by Chief Justice Kalyan Jyoti Sengupta and Justice P V Sanjay Kumar, directed the authorities of the university to inform the colleges about their shortcomings and also to include them in the counseling process. “Despite caution by the varsity, the managements of the petitioner colleges have failed to correct deficiencies. Out of 90 pharmacy colleges only 50 have submitted relevant particulars and given satisfactory undertaking. We will be allowing only those colleges who will abide by the norms and regulations of university,” said a representative from JNTU.

However, the high court has asked the University to notify the deficiencies to the petitioner colleges and issue notices within two days. The final judgment whether to allow or not allow the deficient colleges in the counselling process is awaited till final hearing on Friday.