India, June 23 -- Maharashtra's higher and technical education department has raised concerns over poor standards of pharmacy colleges and urged the Pharmacy Council of India (PCI) to suspend approvals for any new such institutes in the state for the next five years, people aware of the matter said. The move comes amid rising vacancies in pharmacy courses and a dip in education quality.

Officials said that the PCI had approved many pharmacy colleges, particularly in low-demand regions, without proper inspection of infrastructure, academic readiness, or demand from local students. They noted that PCI granted permissions without consultation with the state's technical education department, leading to a surplus of institutions with poor fac...