Anxious students fear further delay in admissions: DTE bars 176 pharmacy colleges from admissions for not meeting norms

As per the circular issued by the DTE dated August 26, all these colleges have failed in parameters of the standard inspection format as per the guidelines of the Pharmacy Council of India (PCI). Stating that this list of colleges should be made public on admissions website, the circular says, “These colleges will not be permitted to participate in admissions for the academic year 2025-26, unless they meet all prescribed requirements and submit a response to the showcause notice.” The list of these colleges is available on the official website of DTE.

Aspirants, parents and teachers fear the development is going to further delay the already prolonged wait for pharmacy admissions.

The DTE action follows a government-mandated re-inspection of pharmacy colleges that received approval in the past three academic years. This was triggered by rising concerns over the alarming number of vacant seats in mushrooming pharmacy institutions across Maharashtra. Several colleges have allegedly obtained approvals by submitting forged documents, including fake utility certificates, possession proofs and building plans, following which a re-inspection was ordered by the state’s higher and technical education department.

Since the Covid-19 pandemic, pharmacy education has seen a surge in demand, leading to a rapid increase in the number of institutions. However, this expansion has outpaced demand. In 2024-25, there were 515 B.Pharm colleges with 41,282 seats, of which 12,714 remained vacant last year. Similarly, in D.Pharm, 685 colleges now offer 40,570 seats, yet 12,404 went unfilled.

A DTE official said, “With the increasing number of colleges, there is considerable vacancy in pharmacy courses. Students have raised serious questions on infrastructure and teaching quality, which led to the re-inspection and the list of 176 colleges which have been barred from admitting students.”

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