Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar: Hundreds of Graduate Pharmacy Aptitude Test (GPAT) qualified candidates were deprived of GPAT stipend in the city and State for the past one year.
It may be noted that the National Testing Agency (NTA) conducts the GPAT for the admissions to M Pharm courses across the country every year. Those who qualify the test get a monthly stipend of Rs 12,400 for two years. Generally, the stipend is released three months after the admission.
Nearly 3,000 candidates from the State, including 400 from the district, clear the test every year.
There are centres for the test in 13 districts of the State. Hundreds of candidates from the city and the State qualified the January 2023 session of the test. However, the students have been waiting for the stipend for the past one year. The stipend is a motivation for the students to excel in their studies successfully.
A group of GPAT-qualified candidates protested at Kranti Chowk on Sunday, demanding the release of the stipend. Sachin Jadhav, a representative of GPAT candidates association said that youths from Dhule, Nashik, Jalna and other parts of the State arrived and participated in today’s agitation.
He said that the All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) used to disburse the stipend until 2022 while later, the responsibility for stipend releasing was given to the University Grants Commission (UGC). He said that they would intensify their agitation if the stipend was not released.
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About GPAT
The GPAT is a national-level entrance examination for admissions to M Pharm Programme.
Until 2018, the test was conducted by the All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE).
Later, the NTA was entrusted with the responsibility of conducting this test since 2019. This test facilitates institutions to select suitable Pharmacy graduates for admission into the Master's courses in pharmacy. The GPAT is a three-hour computer-based online test and its score is accepted by all AICTE-approved institutions and universities.