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Tuesday March 22, 6:43 PM
Government wins over left on Patents Bill By Indo-Asian News Service
New Delhi, March 22 (IANS) The government scored a major victory in parliament Tuesday, winning the support of its left allies on the controversial Patents Bill, even as the main opposition Bharatiya Janata Party insisted the measure be examined by a parliamentary committee.
The left parties have been vociferously opposing the bill, contending it would result in a steep hike in prices of essential medicines and that some of its provisions were against national interest.
The left parties said they would support the bill because the government had accepted 10 of the 12 amendments suggested by them.
The amendments relate to areas like definition of inventiveness, new inventions, compulsory licensing, royalty and the raising of objections before the grant of a patent instead of afterwards.
The bill was to have been debated and passed Monday but this was deferred to Tuesday to enable the government and the left iron out their differences.
Initiating the discussion in the Lok Sabha, Commerce Minister Kamal Nath reiterated the government was only fulfilling an international commitment that had been made on the issue.
At the same time, he assured members he would address all the apprehensions raised by them.
This did not satisfy the BJP, which insisted the bill be referred to a committee for deeper study.
Uday Singh of the BJP alleged that the government was being "unduly influenced by MNCs".
Pointing out that 70 percent of anti-AIDS medicines for underdeveloped countries are sourced from India, he said prices would rise sharply if the bill was passed.
"The bill will be a let down not only for us, but for those countries also," he maintained.
Pawan Kumar Bansal (Congress) contended the government was helpless as the World Trade Organistion had mandated some of the measures.
"But the government is taking all measures to protect the interests of the common man and keep the prices of the essential medicines under control," Bansal argued.
Members in the Rajya Sabha Tuesday discussed the plight of the farmers in the country.
The issue was raised by MPs from Andhra Pradesh, who spoke about increasing suicides by farmers in Andhra Pradesh and elsewhere who fell into a debt trap after their crops failed.
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