Pharmacy Council of India (PCI) issued a notice to all pharmacy colleges and other institutes across the country to allot only 60 seats for diploma in pharmacy course from this year. PCI implied that under section 12 of the Pharmacy Act, no institution would be permitted to admit students over and above the sanctioned intake by PCI, in future.

The Council also warned that in case any institution fails to comply with Council’s notice, the they would be made liable for the default and make the additional seats invalid. It is understood that currently many colleges are indulged in allotting more seats ranging from 100 to 150 than what is permitted to make some extra money.

This move is aimed at not only implementing strict quality standards in existing pharmacy colleges but also to ensure high overall education quality. The move is also focused at encouraging more students to take up higher education like B Pharm and M Pharm so that they can have more in depth knowledge about the subject.

This is particularly important because, currently a D Pharm holder after completing 12th standard and the two year diploma course can register himself as a pharmacist. Many feel that considering the complex job profile and important role that a pharmacist can play in the healthcare system, the curriculum under this course is not justifiable enough to handle such important profile as that of pharmacists.

“It is observed that many opt for D Pharm instead of pursing higher education in the pharmacy because they can easily get a job as pharmacists in chemist shops, which is a wrong notion. This is not only restricting the students from growing ahead but also affecting the reputation of the profession as well. This move is primarily aimed at ensuring that students do take up further education to explore other facets of the pharmacy and get more detailed know how about the profession,” informed Dr H G Koshia commissioner of Gujarat FDCA and also the member of Gujarat state pharmacy council.

With an annual enrollment of around 100,000 students, the inflow of students into pharmacy colleges is at an all time high. It is reported that currently, there are more than 1500 institutions offering various pharmacy programmes across the country.  

The pharmacy degree programmes offered in India include D Pharm, Bachelor of Pharmacy (B Pharm), Master of Pharmacy (M Pharm), Master of Science in Pharmacy (MS Pharm) and Master of Technology in Pharmacy (Mtech Pharm), Doctor of Pharmacy (Pharm D), and Doctor of Philosophy in Pharmacy (PhD). Some colleges in the recent times have even integrated two courses like B Pharm plus MBA and M Pharm plus MBA as well.