PCI directs pharmacy colleges to apply for biometric attendance system by September 5

The Pharmacy Council of India (PCI) has directed the medical institutions offering pharmacy courses to complete registrations for implementation of the Aadhar Enabled Biometric Attendance System (AEBAS) by September 5, as per the official statement.

The council reiterated that despite repeated reminders only 2,735 institutions have been approved for the AEBAS implementation out of 6,000 colleges. While, only 12,600 faculty members are onboard AEBAS under various institutions against 95,000 approved teaching faculty on DIGI-PHARMed, it added.

“If any institution fails to initiate and complete this process within the stated timeline then council may withhold its decision regarding the institution accordingly, if required,” the council stated. Pharmacy-approved institutions can purchase AEBAS devices, complete onboarding and registrations through the PCI’s official website at central.pci.ac.in.

Faculty members in various pharmacy institutions should also have to register themselves through the official portal.

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BPharm, BPharm curriculum revamp

In an interview with the Careers360, Deependra Singh, chairperson, education regulation committee, and member, PCI said that the council is revamping the course curriculum for the BPharm programmes after a decade.

Through the revised curriculum for UG programmes, the pharmacy-driven authority aims to equip students with the knowledge and skills necessary to thrive in this evolving world, he told Careers360.

In July this year, Chandrakant Patil, minister of higher and technical education of Maharashtra stated that the admission process in the colleges or institutions providing BPharm and DPharm courses will be put on hold if they failed to comply with the PCI norms.

He also informed that all the Higher Educational Institutions (HEIs) offering pharmacy programmes in Maharashtra must submit documents containing details about academic, infrastructural, and physical facilities within a period of one month.