COVID-19 law

Mains- GS-2 Governance

1. The nationwide lockdown has been central to the government’s strategy to combat the COVID-19 pandemic.

2. The lockdown exercise has caused unprecedented economic losses to the organized sector.

3. In the unorganized sector, there has been a complete breakdown with little or no legal recourse for those affected.

4. The lockdown has helped contain community spread of the disease, but a legal and legislative audit of this exercise has evaded scrutiny.

Present laws

1. NDMA 2005

a. The lockdown has been carried out by State governments and district authorities on the directions of the Union Ministry of Home Affairs under the Disaster Management Act of 2005.

b. Invoking Disaster Management Act has allowed the Union government to communicate seamlessly with the States.

c. This was intended to provide for the effective management of disasters and for other related matters.

d. Under the Act, the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) was set up under the leadership of the Prime Minister, and the National Executive Committee (NEA) chaired by the Home Secretary.

e. The NDMA and NEA directed the Union Ministries, State governments and authorities to take effective measures to prevent the spread of COVID-19, and laid out guidelines on the functioning of services and establishments during the lockdown.

2. Epidemic Diseases Act 1897

The State governments and authorities exercised powers under the Epidemic Diseases Act of 1897 to issue further directions.

Challenges

1. The NDMA Act was not originally intended to address the threat of a pandemic.

2. The Epidemic Diseases Act reveals lack of requisite diligence and responsiveness of government authorities in providing novel and innovative policy solutions to address a 21st-century problem.

3. Any violation of the orders passed would be prosecutable under Section 188 of the Indian Penal Code. This is a very ineffective and broad provision dealing with disobedience of an order issued by a public servant.

4. Proceedings under Section 188 can only be initiated by private complaint and not through a First Information Report.

5. Offences arising out of these guidelines and orders have a weak basis in terms of criminal jurisdiction thereby weakening the objectives of the lockdown.

UK and Singapore’s New Law

1. The U.K. enacted the Coronavirus Act, 2020, comprehensive legislation dealing with all issues like emergency registration of healthcare professionals to financial assistance to industries.

2. Singapore passed the Infectious Diseases Regulations, 2020, providing for the issuance of stay orders that can send ‘at-risk individuals’ to a government-specified accommodation facility.

3. Both of these laws set out unambiguous conditions and legally binding obligations.

Way forward

1. The Union government should consider promulgating ordinances.

2. These circumstances call out for legislative leadership, to assist and empower States to overcome COVID-19 and to revive their economic, education and public health sectors

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Internal displacement

Mains- GS-1 Society

1. ‘The Global Report on Internal Displacement (GRID 2020)’ by The Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre (IDMC), claimed that nearly 5 million people were displaced in India in 2019. This is the highest in the world so far. 

2. Globally, around 33.4 million people faced new internal displacements because of conflicts and disasters in about 145 countries in 2019.

3. The displacements in India were prompted by increased hazard intensity, high population and social and economic vulnerability.

Monsoons and Cyclones

1. More than 2.6 million people suffered displacement due to the southwest monsoon. 2019 was the 7 warmest year since 1901 in India and its monsoon was the wettest in 25 years.

2. Eight tropical storms hit in 2019 fuelling further destruction.

3. The northwest monsoon along with cyclone Maha that hit Kerala and the Lakshadweep Islands resulted in displacement. This was followed by Cyclone Bulbul that hit Odisha and West Bengal, triggering 186,000 displacements.

4. In addition to displacement due to natural disasters, conflicts and violence also prompted the phenomenon.

5. Political and electoral violence, especially in Tripura and West Bengal, led to the displacement of more than 7,600 people.

6. Unrests and communal violence triggered displacement in the second half of the year.

7. Nearly three-quarters of the global displacements, accounting for 24.9 million of the total, were triggered by disasters in 2019. Out of these, about 95 percent took place due to weather hazards like storms and floods.

8. A majority of conflict displacements took place due to armed conflict; communal violence accounted for a significant portion of the global total of 8.5 million displacements.

9. Even within countries and territories, it tended to be concentrated.

10. Disaster displacement was recorded in low and high-income countries alike.

Regional distribution

1. Most of the disaster displacements were triggered by tropical storms and monsoon rains in South Asia and East Asia and Pacific.

2. Bangladesh, China, India and the Philippines each recorded more than 4 million displacements in 2019.

3. Conflict continued in countries such as Afghanistan, the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) and Syria. Violence increased sharply in Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger.

4. Natural disasters in Nigeria, South Sudan and Yemen forced many people, already displaced by conflict, to flee for the second time.

5. Greater levels of political commitment in countries like Niger and Somalia improved the countries’ policy frameworks on internal displacement.

6. Others like Afghanistan, Iraq and the Philippines included displacement in their development plans and reporting on the Sustainable Development Goals.

Solutions

1. Strengthened capacity across humanitarian and development sectors manifested in better coordination and increased investment.

2. Multi-year funding in Haiti enabled a longer and more transparent planning framework, and the United Nations Peace Building Fund’s support for durable solutions in Somalia was channelled to local organisations.

3. Improvements in the quantity and quality of data available also enabled better reporting and analysis, which in turn informed more effective responses and risk mitigation measures.

4. The combination of official monitoring of disaster displacement in the Philippines with mobile phone tracking data and social media analysis helped improve planning for shelters, reconstruction and long term urban recovery.

About IDMC

1. The Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre (IDMC) is the world's definitive source of data and analysis on internal displacement.

2. Since its establishment in 1998 as part of the Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC), it has offered a rigorous, independent and trusted service to the international community.

3. Their work supports policy and operational decisions that improve the lives of people living in internal displacement, or at risk of becoming displaced in the future.

Source: Down to Earth

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