Centre constitutes Inter-Departmental Committee to monitor and coordinate research work in pharma sector
The Central
government has constituted a high-level inter-departmental committee (IDC) to
monitor and co-ordinate research undertaken by various public sector
organisations and institutes in the pharmaceutical sector. The move follows the
recommendation of the parliamentary standing committee on chemicals and
fertilisers.
Currently, pharmaceutical research in India is spread over a large number of ministries and departments. In its report, the parliamentary panel chaired by Lok Sabha member Anandrao Adsul had stressed the need for an IDC to ensure effectiveness and transparency in research activities.
The IDC, headed by the Department of Pharmaceuticals (DoP) secretary, includes representatives of health and Ayush ministries, departments of health research, science and technology and biotechnology, Indian Council for Medical Research and Council for Scientific and Industrial Research.
“The scattered pharmaceutical research involves lot of overlapping and duplication of projects ultimately leading to wastage of rare national resources allocated to different stakeholders,” the report noted.
As per the recommendations of the standing committee, any national scheme for pharma research and their budget allocation would be finalised by the government only after consulting with the new inter-departmental mechanism.
The House panel report sheds light on constraints in the country’s pharmaceutical research field. Though seven National Institute of Pharmaceutical Education and Research (NIPERs) are operating, only one, NIPER Mohali is full-fledged with its own campus and sanctioned faculty, while others are running from temporary accommodation or mentor institutions for the last 8 years. “Thus undertaking of research by contractual and adhoc faculty cannot be expected. Even at Mohali, the faculty is not at full sanctioned strength because of inadequate budgetary allocations,” the DoP submission to the panel shows.
The House panel also emphasised the need to enhance budget allocation. While new schemes such as assistance to bulk drugs industry to set up common facilitation centres, cluster development and Pharmaceuticals Technology Up-gradation Assistance Scheme are proposed, the report notes “with dismay that no allocation for all these heads has actually been made by the DoP”.
Moreover, the “budget allocations made for R&D are thinly spread over many ministries, departments and schemes, and therefore, the high capital needs of the pharmaceutical research and development are not adequately addressed”.
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