By Prathiba Raju and Abhijeet Singh
New Delhi: In Indian society various educational institutions are hailed as a gateway of opportunities which empowers students by importing knowledge and paves the path for a brighter future. But what if these institutions close their doors, who dreams of entering them? It can turn into a nightmare for them, shattering their hopes and efforts. Hundreds of students are going through a similar phase as the National Institute of Pharmaceuticals Education and Research (NIPER) Hyderabad and Ahmedabad abruptly close the admissions to Pharmaceutical MBA programme for the upcoming academic year.
NIPER is the country’s premier public institution which has three branches in Hyderabad; Ahmedabad and Mohali, which provide MBA degrees in Pharma. Every year admission to the course takes place through a computer based Joint Entrance Examination (JEE) but this year the Department of Pharmaceuticals (DoP) has unexpectedly closed the admissions to the course except for its Mohali Branch. Close to 100 students apply for the course every year in both Hyderabad and Ahmedabad branches.
Understanding the students perspective, EThealthWorld reached out to several aspirants.
“Many students have specific career goals and removal of this course could disrupt these plans and force students to reconsider their career trajectories. The major impact will be on students who belong to middle or lower middle class dreaming of pursuing MBA from these reputed colleges and this step will force them to consider other institutions which can be economically draining,” said Ayushi Dixit a NIPER Aspirant, currently pursuing her B Pharma from KMK College of Pharmacy, Mumbai.
Another aspirant Sukhada Wagh from Vivekanand education society college of pharmacy, Third Year BPharm said, “It is a huge disappointment for students who had their hearts set on pursuing an MBA especially in the pharmacy field. They invest a considerable amount of time and effort into planning for it and all those plans have been shattered by the abrupt termination of the course.”
Speaking on the conditions of anonymity an aspirant said, “The sudden reduction of seats at NIPER Hyderabad and Ahmedabad has left me devastated. My dream of pursuing MBA Pharmaceutical Management at these esteemed institutes now seems like an unattainable goal, casting a shadow of doubt over my future in the pharmaceutical industry.”
“The Pharma MBA course serves as a bridge between the pharmaceutical science and someone’s ability to understand and handle business situations, helping students to navigate the complexity of the pharmaceutical industry with some business principles and to be able to tackle challenges in this field. Discontinuation of this program will not only deprive students of a valuable education opportunity but will also hamper the advancement of the pharmaceutical sector,” said Palak, another NIPER aspirant.
Expressing their dissatisfaction over the recent developments, several alumni also voiced their support for the students.
Sandeep Batra, Alumni, NIPER Hyderabad, said, “The unique blend of technical expertise and business acumen imparted by this program has been in high demand across the industry, with graduates being sought after by leading pharmaceutical companies. The reasonable fee structure has made this program accessible to deserving candidates, regardless of their financial background, fostering an environment of diversity and inclusivity but decision to discontinue the program at NIPER Hyderabad has dealt a major blow to thousands of students who have worked tirelessly to secure admission to this prestigious institution.”
Sharing his views over the development Pranav Ganatra, CEO of Pharmacad a coaching institute which provides assistance to students aspiring for GPAT and Pharma MBA said, “Usually the students start their preparations for NIPER JEE and GPAT since their third year, and just a couple of months back they are informed that Pharma MBA will not be available at two out of the three centers, puts a big question mark on all their efforts and investment with respect to time and money.”
Responding to a question over there is conspiracy to give undue advantage to private institutions Ganatra shared,“This decreases the opportunity for a lot of pharmacy students to pursue their MBA from a government institute and forces them to join private institutes with exorbitantly high fees. It is economically draining for good potential students belonging to relatively weaker sections.”
Adding further over the mismanagement going on at the institute Ganatra said, “The management at NIPER has been very uncertain lately a month back, they were contemplating to discontinue Pharma MBA courses from all the three centers and were planning to start a three-year integrated M Pharm plus MBA course but after a lot of protest from the students and alumni, they decided to withdraw the same, and eventually cancel Pharma MBA from Ahmedabad and Hyderabad.”
Talking over the need of expertise in the field, another expert Dr Pushpendra Kumar, Founder and CEO of Dr PK Classes a coaching institute which caters to GPAT and Pharma MBA aspirants said, “Pharma students have sound knowledge of the pharma sector. NIPER is the only institute that gives the chance of pursuing MBA to pharma students. Recent closure of the program will have serious consequences in the pharma management field because other graduates don’t have basic pharma education.”
When ETHealthworld tried to reach the NIPER officials they were not willing to comment on the same.
India is among the frontrunners of the pharma industry, as per the Economic Survey 2022-23 the Indian Pharmaceutical is currently valued at $50 billion and is expected to reach $130 billion by 2030 from that perspective having more certified professionals who have both medical knowledge is crucial considering the shortage of healthcare professionals in India. According to experts, skilled and adequately staffed pharmacy workforce will be crucial for ensuring that the enhanced standards are practiced and met across the country.
