What is the Jan Vishwas Bill, 2023 proposed by Centre?

Source: The post is based on the article “What is the Jan Vishwas Bill, 2023 proposed by Centre?”  published in The Hindu on 9th August 2023.

What is the News?

The Jan Vishwas (Amendment of Provisions) Bill, 2023 has been passed in Parliament.

What is Jan Vishwas (Amendment of Provisions) Bill, 2023?

Jan Vishwas (Amendment of Provisions) Bill, 2023 amends 42 laws, across multiple sectors, including agriculture, environment, and media and publication and health. 

The Bill converts several fines to penalties, meaning that court prosecution is not necessary to administer punishments. It also removes imprisonment as a punishment for many offences.

The changes proposed to the Drugs and Cosmetics Act,1940 have caused the most controversy. This act governs the import, production, distribution, and sale of drugs and cosmetics in the country.

Currently, the Act defines four types of offenses — adulterated drugs, spurious drugs, mislabeled drugs, and Not of Standard Quality drugs (NSQs) — each carrying varying degrees of punishment (combining imprisonment and fines) depending on the severity of the offense.

How is the Jan Vishwas (Amendment of Provisions) Bill detrimental to the public health sector?

The Bill has two main drawbacks for public health:

Firstly, it lets makers of substandard drugs (NSQ drugs) avoid serious penalties, even though these drugs can harm patients. For instance, drugs lacking proper active ingredients or failing to dissolve won’t effectively treat the intended illness, leading to poor patient outcomes.

Secondly, the Bill also lowers penalties for pharmacy owners who breach their licensing terms.

What did the government said about the concerns raised against the bill?

In response to concerns about the Bill being seen as favoring industries, the Health Minister stated that India is the pharmacy of the world. It aims to provide high-quality medicines while also supporting business growth. 

Hence, rationalizing laws, eliminating barriers and bolstering growth of businesses are important.