Pharmacy a big hit, 70% seats filled in 1st round

BHOPAL: Pharmacy courses have emerged as a life savior for the struggling engineering colleges in the state with nearly 70% seats getting allotted in the first round itself. On the other hand, almost 85% seats in engineering courses are still lying vacant.

The second common merit list will be declared on Saturday. The technical colleges run both B.Pharma and D.Pharma courses.

Of the total 5,232 B.Pharma seats in the state, 3,420 seats have already been allotted in the first round of counselling. In D.Pharma courses too, of the total 1,698 seats, 1,305 have been allotted.

In cities like Burhanpur, Ujjain, Rewa and Ratlam, colleges have all their pharmacy seats occupied. In Chhatarpur, only one seat is left vacant while four seats are available in Indore colleges.

In D.Pharma, the first round witnessed allotment of almost 80% seats. Colleges in cities like Morena, Gwalior, Rewa, Jabalpur and Bhind have all of their D.Pharma seats filled.

The teaching faculty in colleges attribute the sudden rise of pharmacy to opening of various fields in the sector since last year. “The National Rural Health Mission (NRHM) has opened a plethora of opportunities. Besides, there is immense scope for pharmacy degree holders in rural areas owing to the paucity of doctors there,” said Deepa Iyer, associate professor at Oriental College of Pharmacy.

Associate professor Sarita Sarole claimed that pharmacy degree holders are never jobless. “Pharmacy is associated with medicines. This is the filed which will always be in demand. Owing to this reason, students have realised that they have huge scope in pharmacy,” said Sarole, who works at Oriental College.

IES College of Pharmacy principal Vinod Kumar Gautam said pharmacy is a sector where there will always be a need of skilled professionals. “As the openings are huge, there is a never-ending demand for skilled students. As far as the career growth is concerned, sky is the limit for students in pharmacy,” said Gautam.

Till 2013, pharmacy courses were not in much demand with only 10% seats getting allotted in the first round.

Pharmacy has become such a hit among students that colleges are planning to increase their intake from next year. A college official requesting anonymity said, “There is a huge demand for these courses. We will try to increase our intake from next year.”

Association of Technical and Professional Institutes (ATPI) secretary B S Yadav said the expansion of healthcare facilities in both public and private sectors opened huge opportunities in the field of pharmacy.

Registration process for the second round of counselling for pharma courses closed on Friday. Verification of documents and reporting in the allotted colleges will be organised from July 17 to July 21.

On the basis of qualifying marks, the registration process for counselling will start from July 25 to 27. The common merit list will be released on July 28. Verification of documents and reporting in the allotted colleges will be conducted from July 29 to August 31.

A special college level counselling will be organised from July 25 to July 30. Students can take admission till July 31.