New Delhi: After facing the heat of COVID-19, India has now pulled up vigorous preparations to combat such emergency situations. A high-level committee is being constituted by the government this week to take steps to scrap the ‘Epidemic Diseases Act 1897’ and replace it with a new health law.
The seven-member committee will be headed by girija vaidyanathan, former chief secretary of Tamil Nadu. He is also a member of the NGT as an expert.
They have been asked to submit the report within a month of the first meeting. The committee will study the draft National Health Act which was submitted by niti aayog to the health ministry last month.
The comments made by the state governments have also been linked to it. The committee will examine the comments of each state, the entire Public Health Act. This will be followed by recommendations for finalising the new law. Official sources said the primary objective of the committee is to replace the 125-year-old law on epidemics with a new one.
Officials said that the old law has not proved to be very effective during the COVID-19 pandemic. According to official sources, the 1897 law is not effective from the point of view of surveillance and counter-action in the event of an epidemic.
Officials also referred to international health regulations for the same. The proposed new Public Health Act is to be implemented under Article 253 on the Seventh Schedule of the Constitution. In the draft bill, the health administration will be given more powers with a clear interpretation on the national, provincial, district and block level.
The new law also proposes to set up central and state level health cadres at laboratories. The other members of the committee include National Law University Delhi Vice Chancellor Srikishan Deva Rao, Jan Swasthya Sahyog Secretary Raman Kataria, NITI Aayog Adviser Madan Gopal and former head of the Department of Community Medicine, PGI Chandigarh, Rajesh Kumar.