The Pharmacy Council of India (PCI) has decided to keep its portal created to collect application for new pharmacy institutions open for another window of 48 hours till September 23, 2022, as some of the institutions have registered on the portal but could not complete the Standard Inspection Format (SIF) and fee submission process due to technical issues.
The PCI has already provided a couple of windows in the last few months for those who are interested to set up new pharmacy institutions through an online portal it has opened following the order of the Supreme Court of India.
Interestingly, the latest decision comes after the Supreme Court of India in an order on September 15, dismissing the appeal of PCI against a Delhi High Court order lifting a five-year moratorium imposed by the Council for new pharmacy colleges from 2020-21.
The order was in connection to the complaint of around 2,500 pharmacy colleges against PCI's five-year moratorium from 2020-21 on allowing new institutions,
In an interim order the Supreme Court on May 31, 2022, directed the PCI to accept and process the applications from these institutions, though the final decision was subject to further orders on the appeal filed by the PCI against a Delhi High Court order which was favourable to the colleges. The Council has opened the portal for new institutions to apply for its approval on July 3, 2022.
The portal was opened for the second time from August 4 to 10, during which the Council said that the institutions which have already applied between July 3 and 15 can submit various statutory documents and other charges if not submitted already.
It was again kept open from September 1 to 7, 7, as another opportunity for submission of applications for the new institutions which have missed the previous two opportunities to submit their applications. The decision is based on the Executive Committee meeting of the PCI on August 12, 2022, according to official communication.
In the 376th executive committee of the PCI meeting held on September 14, 2022, the PCI has noted that some of the institutions have registered on the portal, but could not complete the SIF and fee submission process due to technical issues.
“In view of the above, it was decided to open a portal for 48 hours for such institutions which have already registered on the PCI portal to complete the SIF and fee submission process from September 21, 2022 to September 23, 2022,” said a latest PCI circular.
It added that this is the last opportunity and there will not be any further extension of last date beyond this for such institutions and the opportunity is not for instructions which have not registered on the PCI portal, it added.
In another circular, the PCI has also requested all the institutions approved by the Council and the State Pharmacy Councils to celebrate the second National Pharmacovigilance Week in the interest of the patient safety and encourage reporting of the adverse drug events to National Coordination Centre, Pharmacovigilance Programme of India (PvPI) through helpline and mobile application.
The Indian Pharmacopoeia Commission is celebrating the National Pharmacovigilance Week from September 17 to 23, 2022, with the theme “Encouraging Adverse Drug Reaction Reporting by Patients”.
|