Left Parties Drop Demand for Parliamentary Committee on Patent Amendment Bill

In a significant development, Left parties have withdrawn their earlier demand for referring the Patent Amendment Bill to a parliamentary committee, instead opting to submit their suggestions to the government within the next few days. The decision was reached after a two-hour meeting with Defence Minister Pranab Mukherjee, Commerce and Industry Minister Kamal Nath, and Science and Technology Minister Kapil Sibal. The Left leaders expressed concerns about potential price rises for pharmaceutical products under the product patent regime, but were reassured by the government that adequate safeguards are in place.

Key Takeaways:

Left parties will submit a detailed note on their suggestions to the government within the next two days.
The Patent Amendment Bill will be brought in the Winter Session of Parliament, despite earlier concerns.
Left leaders, including CPI-M's Sitaram Yechury and CPI's A B Bardhan, attended the meeting with government ministers.
The group's main concern is to prevent price hikes for pharmaceutical products and utilize flexibilities and freedoms granted in the TRIPS and Doha declarations.
Former Commerce Secretary S P Shukla accompanied the Left team during the meeting.
The government assured the Left parties that adequate safeguards are in place to prevent price rises for pharma products.

Statistics:

2 hours: the duration of the meeting between the Left parties and government ministers.
2 days: the timeframe for the Left parties to submit a detailed note on their suggestions to the government.
Winter Session: the parliamentary session where the Patent Amendment Bill will be introduced.
4: the number of Left parties represented at the meeting, including CPI-M, CPI, Forward Bloc, and Revolutionary Socialist Party (RSP).

Sources:

Asia Pulse, "Left parties drop demand for committee on Patent Amendment Bill"
PTI, "Left parties to give suggestions on Patent Bill to Govtwithin 2 days"