FEDERAL Cabinet, in its meeting on Tuesday, took some im
portant decisions that would have direct impact on the lives of common man. The most important indeed was related to reduction in the prices of eighty-nine essential medicines by fifteen percent. Given the surge witnessed in the prices of medicines at the outset of this year, it had become imperative to provide relief to the people who were finding it really difficult to purchase them. However, the list of life saving drugs is much higher and the government must consider revisiting down the prices of all the other medicines so that the people could really feel the impact of cut in prices.
This government had come to power with the promise to uplift the health and education sectors and time has come to deliver on those promises. As the Prime Minister has given directions for framing a new medicine pricing policy, it should be framed after consultations with all the stakeholders with the aim to effectively regulate the pharmaceutical sector and check the prices of medicines besides ensuring their quality. Under this policy, more incentives should be provided to the Pharma industry so that it could further expand and its potential for exports could be exploited in true manner. Another important decision taken by the Cabinet was related to the removal of 820,165 names from the Benazir Income Support Programme (BISP) database, describing the beneficiaries as undeserving. Indeed, this program was launched for poor and deserving families and those not falling under the criteria should be ousted from it but this should be done in the most transparent and apolitical manner. Political loyalties should not be the yardstick for the inclusion or exclusion of anybody in the BISP as doing so will be negation of the principles that the PTI government wants to build upon this country. The cash grants should not be used to reward the party workers rather a strict mechanism should be evolved so that the amount reaches only the pockets of deserving people. To protect these families from the price hike, they should also be provided with Sehat Insaf Card and essential commodities on subsidized rates through Utility Stores.
