The Punjab government passed a resolution on Thursday urging the state government to set a restriction on the profit margins on medications that private producers charge at exorbitant prices. The resolution was moved by MLA Charanjit Singh during the ongoing session of the assembly budget. After the reply by Health and Family welfare minister Balbir Singh, all members agreed to this and also recommend the matter to the Central government.During the session, Balbir Singh also appreciated the move by Charanjit Singh and said that the issue was in his mind also. He said that he has already escalated the matter to Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya, who was on state visit few days back. He also said that exorbitant rates of medicines are robbing people for the money and forcing them to sell off their assets to afford the costly medicines. He also added that not only chemist but some private hospitals are also selling the medicines at more prices than MRP. The matter was not only peculiar to Punjab, but the whole country is getting affected.He added that the government doctors are not recommending the generic medicines, and asked the government to make it compulsory on them to prescribe the generic medicines only. he further added that only the formulation salt should be prescribed, not the name of medicine or company.Gurmeet Singh Meet Hayer, a cabinet minister, proposed capping the profit margin on pharmaceuticals. He stated that there should be a policy under which a certain percentage of medical seats in government institutions should either be offered for free or at a low cost because expensive medical education is one of the reasons for the high cost of medical treatment. According to him, it will not only assist underprivileged students in pursuing a medical degree but also address the issue of a lack of government physicians in healthcare facilities.Health minister Balbir Singh said that e-pharmacy also getting indulged in the malpractice and urged the Union health minister to regulate it. Reportedly, the state has 25 Jan Aushadhi Kendra as of now, and approval for 16 more centres like this has already been given. He also urged the respective MLAs of the constituencies to approve these types of centres in their constituencies also, so the poor people can buy medicines at the nominal prices.He further applauds the AAP government for making efforts to provide the best health services to everyone. He also added that out of 500 health centres 70 percent of them are in rural areas. Balbir Singh further added that the chief minister Bhagwant Mann led government is ensuring that they are committed to provide the best healthcare services. He said, “Health is the fundamental right of every person and it is the duty of the state and Central government to provide world-class healthcare managed and funded by the government.”Other key points during the budgetDuring the announcement of the Punjab budget, finance minister Harpal Singh Cheema said that Punjab government has taken the steps to promote the steps to promote the crop diversification.Cheema said, “AAP fulfilled its poll promise of 300 units of free power to families each month”. Further added, “the Centre has not released what is due to the state, Punjabs share out of the Rs 31,000 crore CCL that was turned into a loan has not been released. Rural development fund is also pending with the Centre.”He further added, “Our government has fulfilled the promises it made in key areas of education, agriculture and health. To get rid of debt, the state government in 2022-23 added Rs 3,000 crore in the sinking consolidated fund.”
