As a punitive action to the malpractices allegedly committed by two pharmacy colleges located in Tamil Nadu and in Karnataka, the Pharmacy Council of India (PCI) will not allow them to commence admissions for the academic year 2013-14, it is learnt.

The PCI has decided to crack the whip on the colleges following a complaint made by Kerala state pharmacy council against the fraudulent activities done by one pharmacy college located at Erodu in Tamil Nadu and another one based in Bangalore, said a central committee member of the PCI. It will also conduct inquiries into the allegations made by the Kerala council against the two colleges by constituting separate committees to seek clarifications from the colleges about admissions held in previous years, board of examinations, directorate of medical education and training centres, said B Rajan, said the CC member.

The complaint against the colleges for issuing bogus diploma certificates has figured at the central committee meeting of the PCI on July 21 in Ootty. The Council then passed a resolution stating that colleges issuing certificates without admitting students should not be allowed to effect fresh admissions this year. The PCI will send letters to the colleges in this regard.

According to B Rajan, president of Kerala pharmacy council, the complaints made by his council against the colleges are Coimbatore College of Pharmacy at Erodu (2013) and Mahalekshmi College of Pharmacy in Bangalore (2009) Both the colleges were issuing bogus diploma certificates (D Pharm) to students without attending classes on receiving money. Rajan said, although a complaint was filed in this regard to PCI in 2009, the apex council did not take any action, but the news about the second complaint, against the Erodu based college (2013), when appeared in Pharmabiz, the PCI decided to take action and inquire into. The PCI will issue orders to the two colleges not to conduct admissions in this academic year, he said after attending the CC meeting in Ootty.

Kerala pharmacy council made the complaint on finding that the certificates and other documents submitted by some applicants for registration with the state council as registered pharmacists were bogus and unreliable. The complaint said that a pharmacy college in Tamil Nadu is giving admission to students for D. Pharm course from Kerala and other states by accepting large amount of money and allowing them to attend the yearly examinations without regular attendance in class. A similar complaint had been given against Mahalekshmi College of Pharmacy in Bangalore four years ago.

It was revealed that the candidates procured certificates from the diploma college in Tamil Nadu had not attended the classes during the period of study mentioned in the certificates. They have neither any knowledge in pharmacy nor any acquaintance with the text books prescribed for the course. They have also not undergone any training in the institution wherein they claim to have been trained, Rajan said.