Finally, relief for Manav Bharti University pharmacy students

Ambika Sharma

Tribune News Service

Solan, November 15

In a major relief to students, the Pharmacy Council of Himachal Pradesh (PCoHP) has begun registration of students, who have completed pharmacy courses from Manav Bharti University (MBU) following directions of the state government.

300 students’ career was affected

The pharmacy council’s refusal had left about 300 students in limbo. Since practical training in the registered institutes is a mandatory part of their course, the denial to register students had hit their career prospects. They failed to secure jobs in the absence of registration by the council.

The council had earlier refused to register the students, who had completed two-year diploma and four-year bachelor’s degree in pharmacy from the university, after it was found embroiled in a multi-crore fake degree racket last year.

A case under Sections 420, 467, 468 and 120-B of the IPC was registered against the MBU management in February 2020 for cheating, forgery and criminal conspiracy for the sale of fake degrees by its management. The case was in the court and the government had appointed an administrator to safeguard the interest of the students.

The council’s denial had left about 300 students in limbo. Since practical training in the registered institutes is a mandatory part of their course, denial to register the students had hit their career prospects. They failed to secure jobs in the absence of registration by the council.

To facilitate the students, administrator Rajiv Kumar had represented their case before the Secretary, education, in September.

Rajiv said, “Following our representation, the Secretary, education, has directed the PCoHP to allow them practical training in various institutes after their registration. This has come as a big relief to the two batches of students, pursuing diploma and bachelor’s course in pharmacy.”

He added that the regular study was under way in the university since its reopening in September last year through online mode and exams for various courses would begin soon. No fresh admissions have, however, been made.

The Himachal Pradesh Private Educational Institutions Regulatory Commission had suggested lateral admission of first and second-year students pursuing various courses to other institutions to save their career. This, however, could not be done as various documents like marksheets, degrees, etc of the students have been seized by the special investigation team probing the fake degree case. In the absence of the documents, they were forced to continue their study here as they could not migrate to other institutes.