The Parliamentary Standing Committee on Health and Family Welfare, which has been examining the bills to constitute the Central Drug Authority (CDA) and make mandatory the registration of clinical establishments will be winding up its consultations soon after hearing the views of Dr R A Mashelkar in the second week of August.

The panel headed by Amar Singh, MP, as part of finalising its recommendations in the last phase, held a sitting here on July 29 and took the views of Health Secretary on the formation of the CDA and the clinical establishments bill. The secretary presented the stand of the health ministry over the issue, it is learnt.

"The panel has collected all evidences, heard both views in support and opposition, and held sufficient hearings, giving chance to all the stakeholders. Now what is left is just getting the views of former CSIR chairman Dr Mashelkar who first mooted the idea in his one of the reports,'' sources close to the Parliamentary Committee said.

The term of the panel has expired on August 3 and it will be reconstituted now, which is just a formality as the composition of the committee would remain the same. After that the committee would finalise the date for summoning Dr Mashelkar for a hearing, possibly around August 12, it is learnt.

And the panel would then finalise the recommendations and submit the same to the Government. The bill is expected to be passed during the monsoon session, if the UPA government plans to call the session over which still uncertainty prevails. The scheduled session has been deferred in view of the vote of confidence and the government is in two minds over holding the session.

The committee, examining the Drugs and Cosmetics (Amendment) Bill, 2007 and Clinical Establishments Bill, 2007 already had sittings at Bangalore, Thiruvananthapuram, Chennai and Hyderabad in the south. It also visited Indore, Ahmedabad, Mumbai and Goa in the west. For hearing the stakeholders from north and north east states, the committee had sittings in Delhi.