Health Crises During Covid-19: Impact On The Constitution Of India

Thejas M R, LLM (Constitutional and Administrative Law), CHRIST (Deemed to be University)

ABSTRACT

Global residents' social, economic, political, and cultural lives have been affected by the SARS CoV2 virus outbreak, also known as the COVID-19 pandemic. The unexpected spread of the epidemic has shown the governments' lack of legislative preparedness to lessen and limit its severe effects. Robust legislative actions are essential in any pandemic or epidemic scenario. In order to handle the COVID-19 emergency, the Indian government has asked all state governments to use the Epidemic Disease Act (EDA) of 1897. The Central Government has also made use of the powers granted by the Disaster Management Act (DMA) of 2005. The regulations that are now in place to handle a COVID-19-like scenario are insufficient, and they must be changed in order to handle such circumstances going forward, as this is the country's first major health emergency since attaining independence. This article not only presents India's current legislative and constitutional reaction to health emergencies, but also examines the statutes for any murky areas. This paper proposes a comprehensive public health law and makes various proposals for altering existing legislation based on the study.1 This essay primarily draws from primary sources, including the DMA and EDA, as well as secondary sources, including media stories and official guidelines, rules, and court judgments pertaining to health and medical emergencies.

Keywords: COVID-19, Pandemic, Governmental Response, Health Emergency, legislative response.