evidence: Under the Drugs (Prices Control) Order of 2013, the work of revising the applicable ceiling price of notified drugs was initiated by the National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority, the government regulatory agency that controls the prices of pharmaceutical drugs in India. The Health Ministry, in April, had said that it has been able to cap the ceiling prices of 651 out of 870 essential medicines listed under the National List of Essential Medicines, due to which the approved ceiling price of medicines had decreased by an average of 16.62%. [...] The NGO had said the government’s pricing policy further excluded essential medicines belonging to the same chemical class, besides drugs provided in the national health programmes such as for HIV, diabetes, hypertension and anaemia, medicines with appropriate dosages for children and patented medicines.