After working more than six years on the new pharmaceutical policy, there is no clear indication that the Centre will be able to finalize the same before its term expires. The last meeting of the Group of Ministers headed by Sharad Pawar was in April and the policy has not taken any concrete shape despite repeated initiatives by the chemicals minister and his ministry. The very purpose of constituting GoM was to speed up the policy making as several ministries were connected with the regulatory affairs of this industry. But the GoM has miserably failed in this mission as Pawar could not devote any quality time for the policy finalization. The most controversial issue in the pharmaceutical policy continues to be the number of drugs to be brought under price control. Here the views of the government and the industry are diametrically opposite. Paswan wants a big basket of drugs to be under price control with his own justification whereas industry is asking for a total decontrol. It is important, in this context, to look at some of the hard realities of the healthcare scene. The disease profile of the country has vastly changed over the years and hence the concept of essentiality of drugs. Life style diseases like heart ailments, cancer, diabetes, AIDS, etc. have started affecting all sections of people whereas infectious diseases have come under control. This has led to a substantial rise in the use of lifestyle drugs and medical devices by the common man raising the overall medical budget. More than 200 such new drugs have been introduced in the market after the last DPCO was notified in 1995. All these drugs remain outside price control. Clinical research has become a major part of the business of several pharmaceutical companies. There are a number of life saving medical devices which are in use today with no control on their quality and prices. The pharmaceutical industry has become an export intensive sector with its overseas business exceeding over 50 per cent. All these call for a wider regulatory supervision of the pharmaceutical and allied sectors. The ministry of chemicals has now carved out an exclusive department for the pharmaceuticals sector. That is one right step took by the Paswan's ministry. At the same time, the ministry of health has been working on to establish a Central Drug Authority to streamline drug licensing system in the country. In fact, a bill for the purpose has been already drafted and debates are on. In case of medical devices segment, there has been no specific regulations existing on their quality and price for a long time. The Department of Science and Technology has been working for some time to frame a set of rules and a regulatory body for this sector. For a better coordination and sustained growth of India's healthcare sector as a whole, a single authority controlling all these sectors is ideal. Now, if the Centre is not able to finalize the pharmaceutical policy during the next few monthsit would be better to come out with a comprehensive healthcare policy covering not just pharmaceutical pricing but all other allied segments of healthcare industry. And it is probably a question to be considered by the office of the Prime Minister and the Cabinet.