A parliamentary panel has expressed its displeasure at the measly allocation by the Finance Ministry for the seven National Institutes of Pharmaceutical Education & Research (NIPER) in the country, which are critical for making available high-quality and affordable drugs for the common man.

In its 12th report on the “Functioning of NIPERs” tabled in Parliament recently, the Standing Committee on Chemicals & Fertilisers, headed by Anandrao Adsul, noted that in 2015-16, the Finance Ministry provided only ₹169.44 crore against the Department of Pharmaceuticals’ demand of ₹1,075.41 crore.

It also noted a significant and steady cut in the revised estimates (RE) of budgetary allocation in the past three years for NIPERs against the budgetary allocation (BE).

The total BE for NIPERs in 2012-13, 2013-14 and 2014-15 was ₹121.55 crore, ₹112.07 crore and ₹124.03 crore, respectively, but this was significantly cut to ₹80.77 crore, ₹64.84 crore and ₹56.42 crore, respectively, at the RE stage, it said.

The NIPERs were started in the early 1990s to build a talent pool to enable the country, which has been a global leader in generic drug discovery, to acquire leadership in drug discovery and development. The institutes offer post-graduate and PhD courses in biotechnology, medicinal chemistry, pharmacology, toxicology among others.

At present, NIPERs are located in Mohali, Ahmedabad, Guwahati, Hajipur, Hyderabad, Kolkata, Rae Bareli and Madurai (under process of establishment).

In this year’s Budget speech, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley proposed three new NIPERS in Maharashtra, Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh, “but no Budget provision has been made for them,” the panel noted.

Stating that it was the “responsibility” of the Department of Pharmaceuticals to “strongly place” its case with the Finance Ministry and ensure optimum allocation of funds, the panel asked it to apprise them of the progress made in this regard.

Taking note of the poor infrastructure in NIPERs, the report also expressed anguish that except in Mohali, all six NIPERs were still working with assistance of mentor institutes.

“The very fact that even after a lapse of more than seven years, these institutions do not have their own campuses clearly reflects the failure of the department for timely acquisition of land…,” it said, urging “vigorous” follow-up with the respective State governments.

On research & development, the report noted that that “not a single patent has been filed/approved by NIPERs, with the exception of NIPER, Mohali.”

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