PATNA: Union Chemical and Fertilizer Minister Ram Vilas Paswan said on Monday the proposed new drug policy to be announced soon intended to provide free medicines to those below the poverty line.

Speaking to reporters, Mr. Paswan said he was hopeful of the draft proposal receiving the Cabinet's nod before Independence Day.

He said the decision to provide free medicines to the 22 crore people living below the poverty line would usher in a revolution in the healthcare sector. The Centre would bear the entire cost without burdening the citizens in the form of additional taxes. He estimated that it would cost about Rs. 3,000 crore. His department had held talks with insurance companies to bring the BPL population under insurance cover.

According to Mr. Paswan, the Centre would have to shell out about Rs. 3,000 crore in the form of premium for covering about 4.5-crore families at the rate of Rs. 500 per family and the insurance companies were willing to bear the actual expenditure, which is estimated to range between Rs. 5,000 crore to Rs. 20,000 crore annually.

Mr. Paswan said the scheme would help revive the public sector pharmaceutical companies from which the hospitals could buy directly for much less than the market price. There were plans to revive several of these companies, which did not account for even Rs. 250 crore of the Rs. 25,000 crore pharma market. Mr. Paswan said the Centre intended to bring down the prices of essential drugs by bringing 354 of them under government control by October 2. The maximum retail price should be inclusive of local taxes and the labels should be both in Hindi and English.

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