THD NewsDesk, New Delhi: On Monday morning, the Lok Sabha approved the Epidemic Diseases legislation that accuses and attracts punishment upon those who attempt to attack healthcare workers who are also frontline COVID-19 warriors, in context of the ongoing pandemic.
The Epidemic Diseases (Amendment) Bill, 2020 will be ousting an ordinance issued by the centre in April. The Rajya Sabha has cleared and approved the bill on Saturday. The passed bill will amend the antique 123-year-old legislation of colonial times (the year 1897). The introduced bill intends to penalise any acts of violence of the frontline healthcare personnel and the damage to belonging property
The bill introduces legal provisions of considering any such violence against the healthcare fraternity as a criminal offence attracting a jail term of up to 7 years, as a non-bailable offence. Any act of violence is liable for imprisonment for a term of three months to five years along with a fine of Rs. 50,000 to Rs. 2,00,000.
Grave offenders are subject to imprisonment of 6 months up to 7 years, with a charged fine of Rs. 1-5 lakhs, depending on the severity of the offence.
Health Minister Dr. Harsh Vardhan stated that this legislation would function as an empowering tool for the healthcare community. He further mentioned that the State would be allowed to make additions to the act.
“We have all noticed that there has been a dramatic decline in the incidents of violence against health workers all over the country,” he said.
Following the series of events where the healthcare unit was attacked and harassed owing to the unawareness about the novel coronavirus, Dr. Vardhan exclaimed that this ordinance was the need of the hour. To curb any such violence and harassment in the future, this legislation was incredibly necessary, he added.
“Everyone was feeling sad and bad. That was the time the government thought of taking a proactive step. When the government reviewed, it found there were minimal laws and powers in some states. There was a need to have a central law to put in place a prohibitory mechanism to stop such activities,” Vardhan said.
In response to the objections escalated by the opposition about the legal imperfections in the bill, Vardhan said that it was drafted after obtaining legal opinion.
The opposition demanded legal reconsideration of pertinent sections of the bill.
An existing member of the opposition, Adhir Chowdhary distastefully commented on the approval of the legislation. He said that the bill had been hastily introduced, and there remain areas of grave concern.
“I would request the government to send the bill to the standing committee and comprehensive legislation should be brought in,” he said, and we quote.
The bill further elaborates that the offender will have the burden of proving innocence. They will be presumed guilty until they prove otherwise. To which, Chowdhury said that this section lies in utter contrast with the provisions of the Indian Penal Code (Criminal law).
The health minister said in response that “our government from the last 3-4 years is working on a National Public Health Act to comprehensively deal with issues related to biological emergencies.“
In support of the minister, Subhash Bhamre of the BJP said that a safe working environment must be ensured for the healthcare workers. He added, 68,000 healthcare workers had contracted the coronavirus, and 500 workers succumbed to death due to the virus, so far.
He further mentioned the diligent efforts of the doctors. He stated that the least they deserve is respect. Despite the long working hours, without worry for self, with faced challenges of donning PPEs, doctors go on to serve the nation selflessly.
DMK member T Sumathy Thangapandian escalated the concern of the future functions of the bill, post the COVID-19.
In contrast, Kalyan Banerjee said that the West Bengal already follows legislation that renders protection to healthcare workers. He suggested that the decision on punishment should be in the hands of the State.
The objectives of politics have evolved much in recent years. On the one hand, the opposition openly accuses the BJP of amending the Epidemic Diseases amendment in haste and suggest pertinent irregularities, and on the other, the bill stands cleared in both the Parliament Houses.
While the amended law looks like the need of the hour, the apparent irregularities of the bill, as suggested by the opposition cannot be fully ignored. Amidst the two distinct parliamentary bodies, the national public health affair hangs arduously.