Even though several Bills related to pharma and health sectors are waiting to be introduced in Parliament for its final nod, not many may find a place in the final list of transactions for the winter session of Parliament, which is scheduled to begin on November 22, as political and corruption issues may eat into a large portion of the total 21 working days of the session.
One major Bill which is likely to be introduced in this session is the National Biotechnology Regulatory Authority (NBRA) Bill. The chances of other bills related to pharma and health sectors making into the Parliament during this session are bleak as there are several other important Bills related to other ministries, especially the controversial Lokpal Bill, waiting to be introduced during the session.
In fact, the NBRA bill was to be introduced during the last session which ended in early September, but it could not be introduced as the corruption issue may take a large part of the session's time. With several corruption related and other politically sensitive issues likely to hit Parliament during this session also, the chances of other Bills related to pharma and health sectors making into the Parliament look grim.
However, the tentative list for transaction of business during the winter session of Parliament is yet to be finalised. But, most probably the NBRA Bill may find a place in the final list as it has been waiting in the wings for a long time. It is being introduced to establish Biotechnology Regulatory Authority of India to regulate research, import, transport, use of organism and product produced from modern biotechnology. 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.
Other important Bills waiting for introduction in Parliament include ART Bill, HIV/AIDS Bill, Ethical Guidelines for Biomedical Research on Human Subjects Bill, Central Drug Authority (CDA) Bill, etc.