Maharashtra may ‘stop’ CAP admission 2025 if pharmacy colleges don't meet PCI guidelines

The Maharashtra government may halt the admission process for pharmacy colleges that do not comply with the guidelines set by the Pharmacy Council of India (PCI). All higher educational institutions (HEIs) offering BPharm and D.Pharm courses in Maharashtra have been given one-month deadline to submit detailed information about academic, physical, and infrastructural facilities

Chandrakant Patil, minister of higher and technical education of Maharashtra warned that the first year centralised admission process (CAP) for BPharm and D.Pharm will be “stopped” for the institutions that do not comply with the required norms.

A high-level meeting was held under the leadership of Chandrakant Patil to review the compliance status of pharmacy colleges recognised between 2022 to 2025. The meeting was attended by the additional chief secretary of the higher and technical education department B Venugopal Reddy; director of technical education Vinod Mohitkar; director of Maharashtra State Board of Technical Education Pramod Naik; joint secretary Santosh Khorgade, and other officials.

According to reports, over 115 BPharm and 200 D.Pharm colleges were recognised between 2022 to 2025. Many of these pharmacy colleges came under scrutiny last month following complaints about forged documents. These colleges have reportedly submitted certified maps and occupation certificates for buildings for approval.

While the inspections were already ordered, Patil noted that many have not provided the mandatory details on academic and infrastructural facilities. Such institutions have been given one month to provide the information on teaching staff, non-teaching staff, laboratories, classroom, library, hostel, and other facilities for students.

The joint directors have been directed to inspect the institutions in person and submit the report as per the ‘Standard Inspection Format’ set by the Pharmacy Council of India (PCI).

The state government assured that it will provide full support to institutions that provide quality education and warned of strict action against those colleges that do not comply with guidelines set by the PCI.