Dubious Pharmacy courses irk ACOAM Lup
Source: The Sangai Express
Imphal, December 13 2021:
The All Clubs, Organisations, Asso-ciations and Meira Paibi Lup (ACOAM-Lup) has expres-sed suspicion of some insti- tutions in Manipur collecting huge money from innocent students by opening phar-macy courses without fulfilling requisite conditions.
Speaking in this regard at the ACOAM-Lup office at Lamphelpat, joint secretary of the body, Th Baleswar drew the attention of the State Government to find out institutes which have been opened without completion of formalities and affiliation approval from the authorities concerned.
He said that the body on November 23 this year filed an RTI plea asking whether some institutes offering pharmacy courses are recognised by the State Government.
However, the body did not get a satisfactory reply other than receiving a No Objection Certificate (NOC) from the Manipur State Pharmacy Council and an order directing institutes to apply to the Pharmacy Council of India (PCI) online for other necessary formalities, he said.
Baleshwar further said it was against the rule to furnish NOC to the institutes without verifying whether the institutes fulfill necessary criteria for running the courses and have requisite infrastructure.
Moreover, these institutes should get affiliation approval from PCI before opening the courses, he said while adding that it is highly unethical and illegal for the institutes to function and award certificates of courses to students.
Since the certificates issued by these institutes will be unusable, it is highly suspected the institutes are indulging in collection of huge money from innocent people in the name of providing pharmacy courses, he said.
He also disclosed that the State Medical Department did not furnish a reasonable response on being asked about the details of the institutes offering pharmacy courses and appealed the same to keep an eye on the said institutes and do the needful.
He also appealed to parents and guardians of those students pursuing Pharmacy courses in the State to ascertain the details of the institutes in which they are studying and check whether the certificates provided by these institutes will be of any purpose in future.