Maharashtra stops admissions at 176 pharmacy colleges for flouting PCI norms

The Higher and Technical Education Department of Maharashtra has issued notices to 176 institutions offering pharmacy courses, including 128 diploma and 48 degree colleges over non compliance of PCI norms, halting admissions for the academic year 2025-26, a report by Hindustan Times stated.

In a surprise inspection conducted by the department, issues such as missing fire safety certificates, inadequate laboratories, absence of occupancy certificates, and staff shortages, which all come under the Pharmacy Council of India (PCI) norms, were identified, as per the report.

The department has also directed the colleges to rectify the errors in order to continue admissions.

Moreover, it was also found that several institutions were submitting forged or incomplete documents , including manipulated building maps and fake occupancy certificates, to obtain approvals, the report added.

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AEBAS system compulsory in Pharmacy-based medical colleges

The inspection was conducted a few days after the PCI urged all pharmacy colleges to implement the Aadhar Enabled Biometric Attendance System (AEBAS) by September 5. The council also directed that faculty members must register themselves through the PCI’s official website at central.pci.ac.in.

“Admissions for the 2025-26 academic year have been stopped for non-compliant institutions. If they still fail to comply with PCI standards and do not submit the required information within the stipulated period, the DTE will recommend cancellation of their university affiliations and request the PCI to revoke its approval,” Chandrakant Patil, minister for higher and technical education, government of Maharashtra said, as per the report.

The Maharashtra's technical education department, on August 27, took action against pharmacy colleges that failed to adhere with the PCI’s Standard Inspection Format (SIF), the report added.

Earlier than this, on July 29, minister Patil conducted a ‘high-level’ meeting over pharmacy colleges that received recognition between 2022 to 2025. The result of the discussion cited irregularities and a lack of compliance with the PCI’s SIF for pharmacy institutions.

“Pharmacy institutions that have not fulfilled the mandatory requirements under the Standard Inspection Format of the Pharmacy Council of India will not be permitted to conduct admissions this year until they rectify the deficiencies. The list of such institutions has been published on the Directorate of Technical Education’s website, and students are advised to exercise caution while seeking admission,” Vinod Mohitkar, director of technical education, said, in the report.