A number of files pertaining to pharma department, including the revival of the long pending national pharma policy, will get serious look after the presentation of the Union Budget planned on July 6, it is learnt.
Chemicals minister M K Azhagiri, who has been studying the sector so far, is expected to meet the associations from the pharma industry only after the budget, though different bodies have been pressing for appointment with the new minister ever since he took over the charge.
The minister had several rounds of meetings with his officials in the pharma department to get a close look at the state of the affairs in the sector. Following this, he also met Union finance minister Pranab Mukherjee to present the wish-list of the department in the forthcoming budget, sources said. Though no immediate change in the current policy was in the offing, the department has prepared the action plan for 100 days and set some goals for the next three months, sources added.
One of the key issues, the new minister would like to push forward, would be the control of the prices of life-saving drugs. However, he has reportedly assured the finance minister that the interest of the pharmaceutical companies would be safeguarded while arresting the prices of the life-saving drugs.
In line with this goal, the minister is likely to revive the long pending file of pharma policy soon after the budget. The ministry is expected to revise the policy almost fully and put it on a fast track.
It will submit the draft again to the cabinet, which can reconstitute the Group of Ministers (GoM). The minister is likely to push for control of prices 354 essential medicines, as he has by now repeatedly made public his plan to keep the prices of life-saving drugs under check as one of his priorities.
The efforts to open more Jan Aushadi stores will also pick up after the budget. There is also a proposal by the ministry to rename the chain of generic outlets after former prime minister Rajiv Gandhi and spread to all parts of the country at the earliest.