An up-to-date legal framework will ensure there is no misuse of police power and human rights are protected. India can't tackle next pandemic with a 19th-century law.
A city in northern China has reported suspected cases of bubonic plague this Saturday. The disease killed about 12 million in India when it occurred in 1896.
While govt is using Disaster Management Act and 1897 Epidemic Diseases Act in tandem to tackle the coronavirus outbreak, experts say India needs a modern public health law.
The Epidemic Act was enacted to crack down on people — cart-drivers, sweepers, cleaners — who fled municipal limits in the aftermath of the 1896 bubonic plague.
The Disaster Management Act, 2005, and the Epidemic Diseases Act, 1897 are innovative, but they still fall short of comprehensibly dealing with outbreaks.
In 2022, athletes claimed they were asked to wind up training early at Thyagraj Stadium so that the IAS couple could walk their dog. Then came the memes and public outrage.
Instead of buying more Mirages outright in early 2000s, the requirement was tweaked in favour of a medium-weight, multi-role fighter with Mirage-like performance.
Pakistan not only has zero chance of catching up with India in most areas, but will inevitably see the gap rising. Its leaders will offer its people the same snake oil in different bottles.
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