Punjab Brings Pharmacy Courses Under BFUHS, Ends Dual University Control
Chandigarh: In a major administrative shift in healthcare education governance, the Baba Farid University of Health Sciences (BFUHS), Faridkot, has been officially designated as the controlling authority for pharmacy and all healthcare-related courses in Punjab.
With this decision, academic and administrative control of these programmes has been transferred from the Department of Technical Education and Industrial Training to BFUHS, bringing all health sciences education under a single specialised university.
As part of the restructuring, pharmacy and healthcare courses that were earlier regulated by the Inder Kumar Gujral Punjab Technical University (IKGPTU), Kapurthala, and the Maharaja Ranjit Singh Punjab Technical University (MRSPTU), Bathinda, will now function under BFUHS. The move comes after nearly two years of deliberations between the state’s technical education department and the health sciences university.
BFUHS vice-chancellor Prof. Rajeev Sood said the change is in line with the university’s statutory mandate, which specifies that all health-related education and training programmes in Punjab should be governed by BFUHS. He added that centralised control would help improve academic standards, regulatory oversight and overall quality of healthcare education across the state.
Prof. Sood noted that BFUHS has made significant progress in recent years, including upgrading infrastructure, recruiting qualified teaching and non-teaching staff, and strengthening super-specialty services. He also pointed out that several key academic and administrative posts that had remained vacant for long periods have now been filled, enabling smoother functioning of the university.
The vice-chancellor further stated that BFUHS is expanding its role in nursing education, with multiple government nursing colleges already operational under the university and additional institutions planned in the near future to address workforce needs in the healthcare sector.
According to a report published by Times of India, BFUHS has also been given administrative control over several public healthcare institutions to integrate education with clinical training. These include the civil hospitals at Badal village in Muktsar and Khadoor Sahib in Tarn Taran district, the community health centre at Jalalabad, and the tertiary care hospital in Fazilka, strengthening the university’s role in service delivery and medical education.
The state government believes that bringing healthcare education, clinical training and service institutions under one authority will lead to better governance, improved academic outcomes and enhanced quality of healthcare services across Punjab.
