Chief minister Mamata Banerjee on Monday criticised the Centre's decision to raise the prices of essential medicines by 50 per cent, urging Prime Minister Narendra Modi to rethink the hike.

Mamata, in her letter to Modi, condemned the price hike while stressing the critical need for these drugs in treating life-threatening conditions such as tuberculosis, asthma, and thalassemia. She called the decision a direct attack on the welfare of common people.

Mamata wrote the letter against the backdrop of the revision of prices of many essential drugs, notified on October 14 by the National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority (NPPA), under the Union ministry of chemicals and fertilisers.

She pointed out that this was the second increase in recent months, following one that affected medications for diabetes, hypertension, and antibiotics.

She said such sudden and abrupt price hikes meant serious hardship for common people already overburdened with healthcare costs.

Her letter underscores her continued commitment to safeguarding public health by states such as Bengal, which provide drugs and treatment to patients free of cost. Explaining the impact of the price escalation, Mamata wrote: "It (price hike of medicines) disrupts the accessibility of indispensable treatments, potentially hindering public health outcome and increasing the burden on the healthcare systems.

"Already reeling under the adverse effects of high prices of daily essentials, this escalation in prices of essential and life-saving medicines will deliver a serious blow to the common people and should be avoided wherever possible."

Mamata urged Modi to instruct the relevant ministry to immediately reconsider the hike in the "overall interest of health and wellbeing of the common people."