The move to frame a pharma policy has taken a back seat once again, after a brief spell of activism and a couple of meetings by the Group of Ministers (GoM).The GoM, which was expected to meet some time after the Parliament Session got over on May 22, is yet to assemble for the next round of meeting that is viewed very crucial as it had already heard the views of the stakeholders.

“No date has been yet fixed for the next meeting,” office of the Secretary of the Department of Pharmaceuticals (DoP) said, without specifying any reason. The last meeting was held on May 18 and the panel had decided to meet again in the coming week.

However, it is learnt that the current political scenario emerging in connection with the Presidential election had kept busy the allies including Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar, who is heading the GoM. Besides, since Parliament is not in session, the members of the panel are also not around in the Capital. It also makes difficult to get the dates of the members.

The GoM held three meetings so far and sat through the presentations by different stakeholders and the suggestions and recommendations of the DoP. After assessing all the options and suggestions, the next meeting is expected to take a final call on the pricing mechanism that should be adopted for the essential medicines under the policy.

The Organisation of Pharmaceutical Producers of India (OPPI), the Indian Pharmaceutical Alliance (IPA) and All India Chemist and Distributors Federation (AICDF) were among the organizations represented the industry to place the views before the GoM. The high-power panel took views from two non-government organisations (NGOs) – All India Drug Action Network (AIDAN) and Jan Swasthya Abhiyan (JSA)—apart from Member of Parliament Jyoti Mirdha.

Other members of the GoM are Health Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad, HRD Minister Kapil Sibal, Commerce Minister Anand Sharma, Chemicals and Fertilisers Minister M K Alagiri, Law Minister Salman Khurshid, Minister of State for Chemicals and Fertilisers Srikant Jena and Planning Commission Deputy Chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia. The GoM , constituted in September 2009, was asked to examine the proposals by the DoP on the National Pharmaceutical Pricing Policy (NPPP).