As the winter session of Parliament is beginning on November 26, there are apprehensions in the pharma industry about the fate of several Bills related to the health and pharma sectors as most of these Bill have been pending for quite some time for introduction and passage in Parliament.
The Assisted Reproductive Technology (Regulation) Bill (ART Bill), Drugs and Cosmetics (Amendment) Bill, Biotechnology Regulatory Authority of India Bill (NBRA Bill), HIV/AIDS Bill, Ethical Guidelines for Biomedical Research on Human Subjects Bill, and Allied and Healthcare Professional’s Central Council Bill are some of the Bills in health and pharma sectors which have been waiting for Parliament's final nod.
Even though these bills, several of which warrant urgent attention of the law-makers, have been waiting for Parliament's final nod, no bills related to pharma and health sectors were discussed during the monsoon session of Parliament which began on July 21 and continued to sit till August 13.
In fact, no bills related to health and pharma sectors could even find a place in the tentative list of government legislative and financial businesses for the monsoon session which was a complete washout due to the tussle between the government and the Opposition on several political issues including the Opposition's demand for the resignations of External Affairs Minister Swaraj and Rajasthan CM Vasundhara Raje in the Lalit Modi controversy and Madhya Pradesh CM Shivraj Singh Chouhan in the Vyapam scam.
There is apprehension among the industry that the winter session will also be a tumultuous one just like the monsoon session, as the winter session is being held in the backdrop of BJP suffering a massive defeat in Bihar, which has further emboldened the Opposition. In such a situation, the chances of these Bills getting the Parliament nod looks bleak, that means these Bills have to wait for the next session which may take place somewhere in February next year.