Even as the Budget session of Parliament begins on February 21, a number of Bills related to pharma and health sectors are waiting in the wings to be introduced in Parliament for its final nod. One major Bill which is almost certain to be introduced in this session is the NBRA Bill which could not make it to the Parliament for its final nod during the winter session due to the stand off between ruling and opposition parties over the now infamous telecom scandal.
Other Bills which may find a place in the tentative list for transaction of business in this budget session included the HIV/AIDS Bill, Ethical Guidelines for Biomedical Research on Human Subjects Bill, Central Drug Authority (CDA) Bill, Medical Devices Bill, the National Blood Transfusion Authority Bill and ART Bill.
The introduction of NBRA Bill during the winter session was a foregone conclusion as that was the only Bill related to pharma and health sectors which was listed for tentative transaction of business for the winter session of Parliament.
But, the much-awaited Bill could not make it to the parliament for its final nod last time too as the Parliament ended its winter session without passing a Bill, after the Opposition parties forced adjournments for 22 business days in a row demanding a joint parliamentary committee probe into the telecom scandal. The Parliamentarians have spent just seven hours conducting business since the winter session began on November 9 and ended the session on December 13 in the midst of the stand-off between the government and the Opposition on the telecom scandal.
In the backdrop of the ongoing controversy over the genetically modified crops in the country, the introduction of the NBRA Bill is important as it seeks to set up the NBRA as an independent, autonomous, statutory agency to safeguard the health and safety of the people and to regulate the safe development and deployment of biotechnology products and processes in the country. Once in place, the Authority will have overriding powers on matters related to the development and deployment of biotechnology products and processes in the country.