Panacea or placebo?

IIPM International Student Exchange Programme

In an exclusive chat with B&E, Union Minister Ram Vilas Paswan spoke about the need to help the poor with affordable medicines

What has been your three year old government’s progress on reducing the prices of ‘life saving drugs’ (LSDs)?
Our ministry had prepared a draft Pharmaceutical Policy in 2006. We made the companies to agree upon reducing the prices of a total of 886 drugs. I am in full agreement with you that we did talk about lowering the prices of LSDs, and we have not forgotten that promise. Although in this list composed of 886 drugs, majority are generic medicines, but that does not mean that we have not tried to reduce the prices of LSDs. My recommendations are already placed to the Group of Ministers (GoM) and now the final decision depends upon them.

Where is the hitch?
As I have told you, the ball is in the court of GoM. I have written two letters to the Chairman of the Group Sharad Pawarji, requesting him to expedite the matter.

We are a signatory to WTO. How do you propose to impose price control on MNCs?
What to talk about the MNCs, we don’t even intend to impose any conditions on the domestic companies. The price of a drug is decided by the companies, we only advise them to reduce their profit margins. We are in the process of devising a way which is a win-win for both the companies as well as the consumers. The medicine prices are determined by the NPPA. Earlier, the pharmaceutical companies were allowed to set a profit margin within 100% of their total production cost. We have increased this limit to 150%. We have also granted another 50% margin for those engaged in R&D. Furthermore, medicines priced below Rs.3 have been kept out of the price control mechanism. What I fail to understand is that how does one not make a profit on a drug. A strip of 10 tablets of Cetirizine are produced at a rate of Rs.1.20 and it is sold at an exorbitant rate of Rs.36. I will not permit such loot.

Past history suggests that the companies have always found a way out to circumvent the price control.
First of all, nothing of this sort is going to happen now. The companies are only indulging in mere rhetoric. If the companies ever dare to defy, the government will not be afraid of taking them on. Earlier, the government had brought bulk drugs under price control, this time we have brought formulations under the ambit of control mechanism. Our aim is to destroy monopolies. We have promised to provide relief to the poor and at all costs we will fulfil our promise of providing affordable medicines to the downtrodden. depends .

Is it not better to first ensure domestic growth rather than trying to compel MNCs to toe our line.
We are bringing those companies under some control, which have a turnover of over Rs.4 crores, and market share of 90% and more. We need to pace up our growth but this does not mean that till the time we achieve adequate growth, we can let the poor to be squeezed.

Companies complain that your policy would adversely affect growth of the industry.
The countries they are talking about have a medical insurance policy for every individual. I have insurance cover provided by Parliament which meets my medical expenses. The majority in our country is composed of working class and not Ram Vilas Paswans. These companies are making noise because they have got into a habit of making obscene profits.

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Source : IIPM Editorial, 2007

An IIPM and Professor Arindam Chaudhuri (Renowned Management Guru and Economist) Initiative

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Three years, a dream & a partner!

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Going by the contemporary, it looks like Posco’s wait was worth it...

The next time you want to learn about a foreigner who loved India since his first visit, look at Posco without wasting a glance... for the world’s fourth largest steel producer, is still around – three long & arduous years after its first visit in August 2004! And for a reason of course!

And after its much touted issues in Orissa during early 2007, there finally seems to be good news surfacing for the steel giant. We’re referring to its strategic tie-up with India’s largest steel maker, Steel Authority of India Ltd. (SAIL) announced on August 16, 2007. So the question – will the wait actually pay off ?

Soung Sik Cho, Senior VP & member of Posco board sounded positive as he elaborated on the logic behind the deal as, “We have signed an MoU with SAIL to synergise the strengths of both the companies together in the area of strategic planning, raw material purchase, exchange of technical know-how and business innovation & joint usage of each other’s existing marketing & warehousing network.” And though the Korean also has of late been forced to cut down its manpower & postpone its project start-date to December 2007, its $12 billion dream steel project in India may yet be realized three long years later!

However, the arrangement appears to be a win-win situation for both, as even SAIL would piggy-back on Posco’s supreme technical know-how in steel production and extensive global network as Hitesh Agrawal, VP-Research, Angel Broking agreed, “The joint usage of each other’s expertise and resources is definitely going to act as a major booster for both the companies in midst of global consolidation in the steel industry.”

So while its India entry strategy serves dual purposes of being a countermove to the growing influence of Arcelor- Mittal and a means to boost its dropping steel production (which fell by 1.61% to 30.05 million tonnes in 2006), one aspect is for sure – Arcelor- Mittal will surely not have it easy in India atleast!

Edit bureau : Manish Pandey

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…with tryst with prosperity...

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It’s now or never situation for this country wherein the policy makers need to set priority & get going with the tryst with prosperity...!

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Inspite of all the attempts to bury the haunting past of the late 1990s turmoil, the reminiscent of social tensions still plague this nation. For the ordinary Cambodians, civil torture, excessive detention & political violence are still norms rather than exceptions in life. Add to these, discrimination, trafficking & the commercial exploitation of women & children & the plate becomes full. The constitutional shields notwithstanding, child labour is a common issue in the flesh trade industry. Corroborating this with the fact that more than 15% of estimated 50,000 prostitutes are adolescents & are aged between 9 to 15 years. The government has also consistently failed to eradicate political intervention & corruption in judiciary results in rise of extrajudicial institutions. Even after international assistance in preparation of civil code, there seems very little political will to enact them. The deeprooted political bias & prevalent corruption naturally has its ramification on the society. Corruption seems to be the way of life in all spheres which largely impedes the economy by draining out almost 10% of the GDP. Foreign investors are continuously looking for opportunity of trade in natural resources & investment in industries but then the prolonged regional economic crisis & political backbiting has made sure that foreign investments remain stagnant. Even in absence of turmoil in some regions, the poor management of resources has created structural hindrances to the overall growth. Even though the era of Cambodia’s violent dictator Pol Pot & his Khmer Rouge regime is a thing of the past, its after effect on Cambodian society seem to be never ending! But this nation has to realise that it is their golden opportunity to make a mark in the world & erase the negative image that Pol Pot & Khmer Rouge has created.

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