NIPER Hyderabad ‘killing’ MBA Pharma despite industry demand and 100% placements: Students

NEW DELHI: When the admission brochure of the National Institute of Pharmaceutical Education and Research (NIPER) Hyderabad was published in April, the students of MBA in Pharmaceutical Management discovered their course no longer exists. Members of the department of pharmaceutical management which ran it found that the course had been assigned zero seats.

“It has come to our notice that our batch will be the last batch of the course and the department,” said a first-year MBA Pharma student from NIPER Hyderabad.

“There has been no official announcement made but in the recently-shared brochure for admission, the seats of MBA (Pharma) course have come down to zero,” said a teacher from the department. “We have not been told any reason for this. That is the most surprising part.”

The MBA in Pharmaceutical Management has existed at NIPERs for over two decades. It was first introduced in 1999 at NIPER SAS Nagar, Mohali; then at NIPER Hyderabad in 2012 and at NIPER Ahmedabad in 2020.

NIPER Mohali was the first to be alerted to its potential scrapping too, in February, 2024, but protests from staff and students ensured it continued. According to NIPER Mohali students, the order for termination of the two-year MBA at NIPER came from the department of pharmaceuticals (DoP) under the ministry of chemicals and fertilisers which replaced it with an MTech-MBA dual-degree programme at NIPER Mohali.

Low-cost MBA

The MBA course is one of the few in pharmaceutical management. “A regular MBA costs more than Rs 15-20 lakh, even at IIMs [Indian Institutes of Management]. But NIPER is the only government institute that offers an MBA within the cost of Rs 5.5 lakh and is very affordable with 100 % placements across all three campuses. The MBA Pharma course is booming and has industry demand,” stated a student from NIPER Hyderabad who didn't want to be named.

The alumni of the department have written to the institute requesting it to “retain” the MBA course. Their letter said: “The … alumni of NIPER Hyderabad, are writing to understand the recent news regarding the potential abolition of the Pharma MBA course. The proposed discontinuation of the MBA programme risks diluting the essence and core of the MBA programme. This decision will end the dreams of lakhs of B.Pharma students in various pharmacy colleges nationwide who dream of joining this prestigious course and contributing to India's future. The department has significantly contributed to NIPER Hyderabad, the pharmaceutical industry, and the nation. Abolishing the Pharma MBA course could have a profoundly negative impact on various areas and young professionals.”

MBA Pharma at NIPER Mohali

In February 2024, students of NIPER Mohali received a notification regarding the restructuring of the departments at the institute. “It was in February 2024 that we received a notice regarding the closure of the pharmaceutical management department which will be merged with MTech. According to restructuring, it was supposed to be a dual integrated course in which students will have to study two years of MTech and one year of MBA degree. But we disagreed on this pattern,” said a first-year MBA Pharma student at NIPER Mohali.

Students and alumni lobbied with the director to retain the programme. “We communicated to the director that a two-year MBA degree was better than one year of coursework within MTech. We informed the director that shutting down the department was not a good option. We emphasised that MBA in pharmaceuticals was quite above all the other courses,” said another student from the institute.

With constant pushback from the students and alumni, the director agreed and spoke to ministry officials. “Now, NIPER Mohali is the only NIPER which has retained the two-year MBA course with an increase in seats, from 48 in 2023-24 to 56 from 2024-25 onwards,” said a student.

While the restructuring was also supposed to happen at NIPER Hyderabad, it has neither launched an integrated MTech/MBA course nor retained the MBA. There are no seats at NIPER Ahmedabad either.

NIPER MBA placements, teachers

Students and teachers at NIPER Hyderabad are concerned about the aspirants who have been waiting to appear for the examination to get admission to the programme. “Admission to all masters courses at NIPER is through the NIPER Joint Entrance Examination (NIPER-JEE), and many students, especially the B Pharma graduates will be impacted,” said a student from Hyderabad campus.

“It will be a shock for many students preparing for the exam. Despite the course having 100% placements, terminating the course will impact the overall industry which is dependent on this talent pool. Further, over the years, the placements have improved manifold with Rs 5 lakh per annum average package in 2012 to Rs 28 lakh per annum as highest in 2023,” said a teacher.

Students have sought an explanation from the NIPER Hyderabad director, also director of NIPER Ahmedabad. “Even after we reached out to higher authority, wrote emails, and tried meeting the director, we were not given a proper reason. The only reason they gave was that the department has just a head of department and the rest are visiting faculty,” said a student.

“If this is the real reason, instead of discontinuing the whole department, the management can arrange for more permanent faculty. That would be much better,” suggested the first-year student.

The alumni network in its letter also suggested that like the B-schools within IITs, which operate independently, acknowledging the significance of management studies in their respective industries, the pharmaceutical industry should also recognise the value of having a dedicated management programme to preserve its future. The letter said: “The prestigious ICT Mumbai has announced a two-year MBA programme for this academic year, 2024, other institutes are eager to start MBA programmes. It is devastating to note that a well-established, long-standing MBA(Pharma) course is being killed at NIPER Hyderabad and Ahmedabad.”