In a strategic move that will pave way to incremental growth of the sector, the Department of Industrial Policy & Promotion (DIPP) mooted its plan to constitute a separate development advisory council for the medical device industry. Once cleared, this council will play an important role of facilitating a platform to address the challenges and issues of the industry in an ongoing and continuous manner.

Unlike the task forces, constituted by the government to address specific issues within a timeframe, this council will act as separate authority completely dedicated to address plethora of issues under its guidance. The Council is reportedly to be headed by a secretary acting as the chairperson consisting of 12 to 13 members from the government. It is also expected to have a strong representation from the industry with stakeholders being part of the decision making process.

Meanwhile, the medical device industry has extended its support on this plan and expressed eagerness to see a separate council to address its demands. Rajiv Nath, forum coordinator of the Association of Indian Medical Device Industry (AIMED), informed that it is a welcome move in the lines of bringing some kind of semblance for the sector, eager to get heard.

“Time and again we have been expressing our angst over not getting a proper forum to address our issues. Though task forces have been in place, they hardly have the time or the resources to address all of our issues and moreover the whole process is time consuming and tedious. With a council in place to specifically handle the concerns of the industry, it will provide us with a window of opportunity to highlight our concerns and issues on a more elaborate forum. This is a huge news for us and we are looking forward to this as our issues will be addressed in a common forum averting lot of confusion and chaotic situation,” he added.

He further informed that once it is constituted all the issues and the demands of the industries will be directly dealt through this council. In fact, it is understood that all the current issues discussed and represented through task forces will also merge within the same.