Union Chemicals Ministry may further harden its stand on bringing more drugs under price control in the National Pharmaceutical Policy which will be discussed in the second Group of Ministers (GoM) meeting scheduled to be held on September 12.

According to sources in the Chemicals ministry, there will be no change in the ministry's stand on the policy. It is keen to include 354 drugs under price control mechanism of the central government as per the recommendations made in the draft national pharmaceutical policy. Presently, 74 drugs are under price control.

While, Chemicals minister Ramvilas Paswan, whose penchant for populist measures is well known, is leaving no stones unturned to bring 354 drugs under price control to make medicines within the reach of common man, the industry is of the view that there should be no price control but only price monitoring and the market forces will take care of the prices.

The GoM meeting, which was originally scheduled for September 5, has been re-scheduled for September 12 due to the preoccupation of some of the ministers who are members of the GoM. Though there are several controversial issues to be resolved by the GoM, the main concern of the industry is on price control.

It was the sharp difference on this issue between the different stake holders especially between the chemicals ministry and the pharma industry that made the implementation of national pharmaceutical policy to run into rough weather. The Union chemicals ministry had submitted the draft National Pharmaceutical Policy, aimed at ensuring life-saving drugs available at affordable prices to the common man, to the Union government way back on December 28, 2005.

Besides, several other Union ministers also took a divergent view on the policy forcing the matter to be left to the discretion of the Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh. As the sharp divide between the chemicals ministry and the industry took a turn for the worst, Prime Minister constituted a 7-member GoM under Union Agriculture minister Sharad Pawar on January 11 to settle the issue to the satisfaction of all the stakeholders. The GoM met only once since its constitution in which nothing concrete was discussed.