The Union Chemicals Ministry will recommend to the Centre to earmark 20 per cent of the local development funds for MPs and MLAs, to the tune of Rs 300 crore, for taking up health insurance schemes and setting up drug banks.

This was decided at the third interactive session, convened by Chemicals Minister Ram Vilas Paswan here on Tuesday, with the Pharmaceutical Advisory Forum, which also constituted two sub-panels for health insurance and consumer awareness campaigns.

The meeting, attended by Health Ministers and secretaries from all the States and Union Territories, officials from Chemicals Ministry and representatives of NPPA, also discuss the price and availability of medicines.

The issue of price control, proposed in the forthcoming National Pharmaceutical Policy, also came in for heated discussion at the meeting at which Paswan reiterated his commitment to curb the prices of essential medicines.

The sub-committee, to be headed by a joint secretary in the chemicals department, will go into the possibilities of floating more health insurance schemes and modalities of drug banks. It will have the health secretaries from the States of Andhra Pradesh, Punjab, Rajasthan, Bihar and Mizoram, representatives of four pharma associations, Drug Controller of Gujarat, representatives of AIOCD, consumer bodies and insurance companies as members.

The other sub-group, to be chaired by NPPA chairman, will consult NGOs and other groups to frame modalities of consumer awareness campaigns. It will look into the possibility of hiring an agency to run the same. Both the panels would submit the reports to the Advisory Forum, Paswan briefed newsmen after the meeting.

The meeting also witnessed the launching of e-system to make the companies enable file price revisions and price lists through internet, on a voluntary basis.

The Minister said his Ministry will urge the Centre to allocate Rs 300 crore, which will be mobilized from the local development funds to the MPs and MLAs, towards paying the insurance premium and funding the drug banks.