Webinar on Legal Framework for Pandemic Management & Response to COVID-19 in India Organized by Sanskriti University
Sanskriti University organized a webinar to address the “Legal Framework for Pandemic Management & Response to COVID-19 in India”. The objective of this webinar was to discuss how Public health legislation plays an important role in the containment of any pandemic and how awareness brings a strength to fight in pandemic.
The webinar focused on two important acts namely The Epidemic disease act of 1897 and The Disaster management act of 2005. The Epidemic Disease Act, consists of four sections, and aims to provide “for the better prevention of the spread of Dangerous Epidemic Diseases.” Section 2 empowers state governments/UTs to take special measures and formulate regulations for containing the outbreak.
The definition of a “disaster” in Section 2 (d) of the Disaster Management Act states that a disaster means a “catastrophe, mishap, calamity or grave occurrence in any area, arising from natural or man-made causes…”. To address the current epidemic outbreak, the Central government has included the COVID-19 outbreak as “Notified Disaster” as a “critical medical condition or pandemic situation.
Dr. Reena kansal Jain Assistant Professor, Department of Law, Punjab University, was invited as a key speaker of the webinar. During the webinar Dr. Rana Singh, Vice chancellor of Sanskriti University, Faculty members and students participated in this efficacious Webinar.
While interacting with students, Dr. Reena Kansal Jain Assistant Professor, Department of Law, Punjab University shared a detailed Knowledge with students through Power Point presentation to address the Legal Framework for Pandemic Management & Response to COVID-19 in India. She explained various aspects of two pioneer acts (The Epidemic disease act of 1897 and The Disaster management act of 2005) including the Fundamental Rights, penalties and punishment of violating those acts.
Expressing his view on the topic Dr Rana, Vice chancellor of Sanskriti University said “a legal framework for infectious diseases in the interest of public health security is essential to increase transparency and accountability of the State towards the public. In order to mandate using such procedural best-practices in the future, a comprehensive legal framework for epidemic preparedness and response is required instead of the current fragmented response framework through programmes and missions”.