The Punjab Vigilance Board reportedly has 60 high profile pharmacy institutes across Punjab on their radar as a result of their investigation into the fake issuing of Pharmacy certificates which they revealed on Saturday. They say that the operations regarding registration of fake pharmacists have been occurring in various high profile medicine and pharmacy institutes across various cities in Punjab some of which have been revealed as Amritsar, Jalandhar, Ropar, Kapurthala, Ferozpur, Patiala, Ludhiana, Sangrur, Bathinda among others. Sources say that over 500 fake certificates and diplomas have been issued.
Sources reveal that the arrested were colluding with an estimated 103 private institutes and hence more than 500 fake certificates have been issued. VB has strong suspicions regarding 60 of these institutes and is planning to take action against them. It has also come to fore that those accused in the investigations were reportedly taking nearly 1-7 lakhs in exchange for degrees and registrations while overlooking mandatory qualifications and verifications processes. The operation has also been reportedly been running for such a long time that aggregate of the bribes is estimated to be in multiples of Crores.
Sources have also revealed the modus operandi wherein unsuspecting candidates were aided in their examination by the exam vigilators and essentially allowed to cheat in order to pass their qualification exam. They were provided admission into the institutes in exchange for large sums of money and the eligibility criteria was met by fabricating documents from out of state resources and overlooking basic important eligibility parameters such as the 10+2 certicates and were subsequently registered as pharmacists allowing them to work in various medical and pharmaceutical departments and legally distribute medicine despite not being officially qualified.
Here are some initial details about the issue:
VB initially found discrepencies in the issuing of Pharmacy degrees and qualifications and therefore arrested 2 ex-registrars and the PSPC superintendent identified as Parveen Kumar Bhardwaj, Dr. Tejbir Singh (former registrars) and Ashok Kumar (presently Superintendent). Parveen Kumar Bhardwaj served as Registrar of PSPC on various occasions from 2001 to 2009 and from 24.12.2013 to 25.3.2015, while Dr. Tejbir Singh held the position from 23.8.2013 to 24.12.2013. Ashok Kumar was also involved, according to the findings of the vigilance enquiry.
According to the Bureau: The Punjab State Technical Education Board, responsible for conducting online counseling 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 said Registrars and officials of PSPC without obtaining mandatory migration certificates, accepting significant bribes from unsuspecting candidates. Moreover, several students gained admission to the D-pharmacy course by possessing the requisite 10+2 educational qualifications in medical or non-medical streams privately whereas it has to be passed regularly and by attending science practical.
The Bureau added that the involvement of Dr. Abhininder Singh Thind, Dr. Tejbir Singh, and Parveen Kumar Bhardwaj during their tenures as Registrars led to the issuance of numerous fake pharmacy certificates, potentially compromising public health and safety.
In light of these details, A FIR was registered under section 420, 465, 466, 468, 471, 120-B of IPC.