Parliament passes bill to protect healthcare workers against violence

The Parliament on Monday passed the Epidemic Diseases (Amendment) Bill, which provides for up to five years in jail for those attacking healthcare workers fighting the coronavirus or during any situation akin to the current pandemic. The Epidemic Diseases (Amendment) Bill, 2020, was passed by Lok Sabha by a voice vote.

The Parliament on Monday passed the Epidemic Diseases (Amendment) Bill, which provides for up to five years in jail for those attacking healthcare workers fighting the coronavirus or during any situation akin to the current pandemic. The Epidemic Diseases (Amendment) Bill, 2020, was passed by Lok Sabha by a voice vote. It has already cleared Rajya Sabha.

The bill replaces an ordinance issued by the government in April. The Union cabinet had promulgated the Epidemic Diseases (Amendment) Ordinance, 2020, to amend the Epidemic Diseases Act, 1897, to protect healthcare service personnel and property, including their living/working premises, against violence during epidemics.