Chennai: Tamil Nadu’s proposal to start 10 new government pharmacy colleges at government medical college hospitals has run into hurdles due to a lack of space on several campuses.
The state already has over 100 private pharmacy colleges, and around 20 new private institutions are said to be added every year. However, no new government pharmacy college has been started for more than six decades. At present, government B.Pharm colleges function only in Chennai and Madurai, while D.Pharm colleges are available in Thanjavur, Madurai and Coimbatore.
Medical experts have been urging the government to fill faculty vacancies and expand government-run pharmacy education. In response, the Health Department drew up a plan—around a couple of months before the elections—to launch 10 pharmacy colleges and appointed a coordinating officer to assess feasibility at government medical college hospitals.
A team inspected more than 10 medical colleges and reported that even existing courses lack adequate facilities in several places, making it difficult to add a pharmacy college. Health Department officials said constructing new buildings would cause delays, so the plan is to start pharmacy colleges as allied institutions within existing medical college buildings, with an intake of at least 50 students.
Officials acknowledged space constraints at some campuses and said colleges with feasible infrastructure would be identified soon and a report submitted to the government. They added that pharmacy colleges would be started at selected locations by the end of this year.
