Whati

sEpi
demi
cDi
seasesActof1897?

INTRODUCTI ON-TheEpi
demicDiseasesAct,1897i sal aw whichwasf i
rstenact
edtot ackle
bubonic pl
ague i
n Bombayst at
einf ormerBr i
tish I
ndiai n 1890.The law is meantf or
contai
nmentofepidemi
csbyprovidi
ngspecialpowersthatarerequiredf
ortheimplementati
on
ofcontai
nmentmeasurestocontr
olthespr
eadoft hedisease.
[1]
[2]

I
tisrouti
nel
yenf
orcedacrosst
hecount
ryf
ordeal
i
ngwi
thout
breaksofdi
seasessuchasswi
ne
f
lu,dengue,
andchol
era.

Whywast
hisactcr
it
ici
sed?

Hi
stor
ianshav
ecr
it
ici
sedt
heActf
ori
tspot
ent
ial
forabuse.

Usingpowersconf
err
edbyt
heAct,col
oniesauthori
tieswouldsear
chsuspectedpl
aguecases
i
nhomesandamongpassengers,withforci
blesegregat
ions,ev
acuat
ions,anddemoli
ti
onsof
i
nfectedpl
aces.

I
n1897,theyearthelawwasenf orced,
freedom f
ight
erBalGangadharTi
l
akwaspuni
shedwith
18months’r i
gorousimpri
sonmentaf terhisnewspapersKesariandMahrat
taadmonished
i
mperi
alauthori
ti
esforthei
rhandl
ingoftheplagueepi
demic.

Pr
ovi
sionsoft
he1897Epi
demi
cDi
seasesAct
:

Sect
ion2-

(1)Whenatanyt imet he[StateGov er

nment ]issat i
sfi
edthat[theSt at
e]oranypar tt
hereofis
visi
tedby ,ort hreatenedwi th,anout breakofanydanger ousepi demicdi sease,the[ St
ate
Gov er
nment ],i
f[i
t]thinksthattheor di
naryprov i
sionsofthel awfort heti
mebei ngi nforceare
i
nsuf f
ici
entforthepur pose, maytake,orrequireorempoweranyper sont otake,suchmeasur es
and,bypubl icnotice,prescri
besucht empor aryregulati
onstobeobser vedbyt hepubl i
corby
anyper sonorcl assofper sonsas[ it
]shalldeem necessar ytoprev enttheout breakofsuch
diseaseort hespr eadthereof,andmaydet er
mi neinwhatmannerandbywhom anyexpenses
i
ncur r
ed( i
ncludi
ngcompensat ionifany)shallbedef r
ayed.

Summar
y-

(i
)I
tempower sst
ategover
nment
s/UTst
otakespeci
almeasur
esandf
ormul
ater
egul
ati
onsf
or
contai
ningt
heoutbr
eak.

(i
i
)Ital
soempowersstat
etoprescri
besuchtemporaryregulat
ionstobeobser
vedbythepubli
c
orbyanypersonorcl
assofpersonsasi
tshalldeem necessar
yt opr
eventt
heoutbr
eakofsuch
di
seaseorthespr
eadther
eof.

(i
ii
)Thest
atemaydeter
mineinwhatmannerandbywhom anyexpensesi
ncur
red(
incl
udi
ng
compensat
ioni
fany
)shall
bedef
ray
ed.
(i
v)TheStateGovernmentmayt akemeasur esandprescri
beregul
ati
onsfortheinspect
ionof
persons t
ravel
li
ng by rail
way orot her
wise,and the segr
egati
on,in hospi
tal
,t emporar
y
accommodat i
onorot her
wise,ofper
sonssuspectedbytheinspect
ingof
fi
cerofbeinginfect
ed
wit
hanysuchdi sease.

(
2)Inpar
ti
cularandwithoutprej
udi
cet
ot hegenerali
tyoft
hef or
egoi
ngpr
ovi
sions,t
he[
Stat
e
Gov
ernment
]mayt akemeasuresandpr
escri
beregulat
ionsf
or—

(b)theinspect
ionofpersonst
rav
elli
ngbyrai
lwayorother
wise,
andt
hesegregati
on,i
nhospit
al,
tempor ar
yaccommodat ionorotherwi
se,ofpersonssuspect
edbytheinspecti
ngoff
icerof
beinginfect
edwithanysuchdi
sease.

2A-.Power sofCent ralGov ernment .—Whent heCentr

alGovernmentissati
sfi
edt hatIndi
aorany
partther eofisv i
sitedby ,ort hreatenedwith,anoutbreakofanydanger ousepi demicdisease
andt hatt heordinaryprov i
sionsoft hel
awf orthet
imebeinginforcear ei
nsuff
icienttoprevent
theout breakofsuchdi seaseort hespreadt her
eof
,theCentr
alGov er
nmentmayt akemeasures
andpr escr i
beregul ati
onsf orthei nspecti
onofanyshi porvessell
eavingorarri
v ingatanypart
i
n[ thet erri
tor
iest owhi cht hisActext ends]andf orsuchdetenti
ont her
eof,orofanyper son
i
ntendingt osail
t herei
n,orar ri
vi
ngt hereby,asmaybenecessary.]

3.Penal
ty.
—Anyper
sondi
sobey
inganyregul
ati
onoror
dermadeunderthi
sActshal
lbedeemed
tohavecommitt
edanoff
encepunishabl
eundersect
ion188oftheIndi
anPenalCode(45of
1860).

4.Prot
ecti
ont opersonsacti
ngunderAct
.—Nosuitorot
herl
egalpr
oceedi
ngshal
lli
eagai
nst
anypersonforany
thingdoneori
ngoodfai
thint
endedt
obedoneundert
hisAct
.

Exampl
esofi
mpl
ement
ati
on:

 I
n2018,t hedi
stri
ctcol
lect
orofGuj
arat
’sVadodar
aissuedanot
if
icat
ionundert
heAct
declar
ingtheKhedkarmsiyavi
ll
ageinWaghodiatal
ukaascholera-
aff
ect
edafter31
personscompl
ainedofsymptomsofthedi
sease.

 In2015,t
odealwi t
hmalari
aanddengueinChandigar
h,theActwasimplementedand
cont
rol
li
ngoffi
cerswer
einstr
uct
edtoensur
etheissuanceofnot
icesandchal
lansofRs
500tooff
enders.

 In2009,t otackletheswi nefl

uout breakinPune,Secti
on2power swereusedtoopen
screening centresincivichospitalsacrosstheci t
y,and swinefl
uwasdecl ar
ed a
notif
iabledisease.2.Powert otakespecialmeasuresandpr escr
iberegul
ati
onsasto
dangerousepi demicdiseases.