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Irregularities in issuing D-Pharmacy certificates: VB nabs 2 ex-registrars, superintendent of pharmacy council
A VB spokesperson said former registrars Parveen Kumar Bhardwaj and Dr Tejbir Singh, and Ashok Kumar, then accountant and presently superintendent, have been arrested after being implicated during the inquiry
The Punjab Vigilance Bureau (VB) unearthed a scam in the Punjab State Pharmacy Council (PSPC) with the arrest of two former registrars and a superintendent for their alleged involvement in “severe irregularities related to the issuance of certificates to pharmacists”, allegedly in collaboration with private pharmacy institutions.
A VB spokesperson said former registrars Parveen Kumar Bhardwaj and Dr Tejbir Singh, and Ashok Kumar, then accountant and presently superintendent, have been arrested after being implicated during the inquiry.
He added that Bhardwaj served as the registrar from 2001 to 2009 and from December 24, 2013 to March 24, 2015, and Dr Tejbir Singh held the position from August 23, 2013 to December 24, 2013.
He added that the investigation revealed “crucial oversights in the verification process” during the registration of pharmacists and led to discovery of numerous fake D-Pharmacy certificates. The probe determined that the protocols and mandated educational qualifications were disregarded by the accused officials during the admission process for D-Pharmacy courses across 105 colleges in the state. The students then secured employment or set up medical stores on the basis of the “fake certificates”, the spokesperson said.
He said that the investigation uncovered fake certificates of 143 students between 2005 and 2022. These students completed their D-Pharmacy diplomas in private colleges, leveraging their connections with officials of the Punjab Technical Education Board.
A case has been registered at the VB police station of economic offences wing, Ludhiana, under sections 420 (cheating), 465 (punishment for forgery), 466 (forgery of record of Court or of public register), 468 (forgery for purpose of cheating), 471 (using as genuine a forged document or electronic record) and 120-B (punishment of criminal conspiracy) of the Indian Penal Code.
The Punjab State Technical Education Board, which holds online counselling for admissions in state government colleges, encountered persistent vacancies in private institutions. To fill these seats, private colleges allegedly admitted students from other states in connivance with the accused officials without mandatory migration certificates and accepted significant bribes.
Students were allegedly admitted to D-pharmacy course by passing 10+2 through distance mode, whereas the norms say it has to be passed in regular mode and by attending science practicals.
The probe also found discrepancies in the approval and registration of certificates issued by education boards accredited by the Council of Boards of School Education (CBSE).
The spokesperson said that Bhardwaj’s services were terminated on March 31, 2011 for malpractice related to fake admissions, counterfeit certificates, record manipulation and omission from dispatch register. However, he was later reappointed as registrar on December 24, 2013. The appointment was cancelled after a writ petition in high court on March 24, 2015.
He further added that verification by the director, medical education and research (DRME), and medical colleges in Amritsar, Faridkot and Patiala uncovered substantial “irregularities in admissions and PSPC’s registration procedures.”
The VB investigation would further scrutinise the roles of other officials, employees and clerks of PSPC, along with individuals associated with private colleges, he added.
