New Delhi: In a war of words over the prices of essential drugs, Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya on Monday hit out at Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge by saying that consumers will save around Rs 3,500 crore annually with the government capping the prices of the majority of essential medicines.
Rebutting the Congress leader’s claims, in a series of tweets, Mandaviya said that the ceiling prices of 651 out of 870 essential medicines have already been notified by the government so far, bringing down the cost of drugs under the National List of Essential Medicines (NLEM).
While tagging Kharge’s Twitter handle, Mandaviya, in a tweet, said that so far, new ceiling prices of 651 out of 870 essential medicines have been notified. “Due to this, the approved ceiling price of medicines has decreased by an average of 16.62 per cent. As a result, consumers will save an estimated Rs 3,500 crore annually,” the health minister said.
Earlier, Kharge had on Sunday taken a swipe at Prime Minister Narendra Modi over a reported hike in prices of some essential medicines, saying that he has taken “supari (contract)” to “pickpockets” of the people. According to the provisions of DPCO, 2013 made by the UPA government, every year the pharma companies increase or decrease the prices of medicines according to the WPI, he said, adding, but in November 2022, the government revised the list and prices of essential medicines.
The companies can increase the price of medicines from April 1, 2023, to the extent of 12.12 per cent of the ceiling price linked to WPI, he said.
The Janaushadhi Abhiyan being run under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi has led to a huge intervention on the supply side thereby creating competition in the market which deters companies from hiking prices, Mandaviya said. The health minister also asserted that even if the companies were to increase the full price, an average reduction of 6.73 per cent is estimated due to the capping of the ceiling prices by the government, he added.