The Central government has removed the animal rights activist and former Union Minister, Maneka Gandhi, as chairperson of the Committee for the Purpose of Control and Supervision of Experiments on Animals (CPSCEA). V.K. Duggal, Special Secretary in the Union Environment and Forests Ministry, has been given temporary charge of the committee. Gandhi has been removed on the ground that the post was an office of profit and, according to the rules, a member of Parliament cannot hold such a post.
The government decision has come after a long plea from the scientific community to hand over CPCSEA to a person who can strike a balance between the need to protect the interests of the animals and promote medical research in the country. The over zealous animal welfare activist in Gandhi had created lot of hurdles before research community in the recent past.
The scientists had been complaining that the CPCSEA under Gandhi lacked professionalism and had been viewing scientists as de facto criminals who need to be restrained. They wanted CPCSEA to function as a regulatory body for facilitating good animal experimentation following humane principles in consonance with the democratic will enshrined in the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act of India rather than function with an irrational anti-animal experimentation fringe agenda.
The scientists had been repeatedly demanding the government to come out with clear cut guidelines in order to decide upon the circumstances where animal experiments could be allowed, the kind of experimentation and humane rules for such use of animals.
With the government declaring that the new chairperson will be able to strike a balance between the needs of the researchers and genuine concerns of animal rights activists, the need for reviewing some of the existing rules that place far too much burden of work on CPCSEA and the excessive paperwork on the scientists have come to the fore. It should be noted that even to import laboratory-bred mice, the present procedural network takes a scientist to clear his papers from the institutional committee, followed by the national committee secretariat, the national committee subcommittee, the wildlife department, and finally by the commerce ministry.
Similarly, there is a great deal of record-keeping on a daily basis required in the rules, which keeps scientists occupied in filling forms rather than in doing the experiments. The rules also tend to question the purpose and worth of experimentation without taking any cognizance of the different categories of experimentation and testing, resulting again in long paper trails and delays.
Scientists have been complaining that as a result of all this, competitive workers doing good science were frustrated and were convinced that CPCSEA was misusing the rules. They have also pointed out that the "prejudiced activities of the CPCSEA have led to either a withdrawal of the Indian biotech and pharma sector industry from animal-based drug trials, or a exodus of such centres to overseas sites, auguring ill for India's industrial strength."
"Humane use of experimental animals and good cutting-edge science are both essential societal commitments. Animal liberation activism flies in the face of both. It is imperative to bring the derailed process of animal experimentation regulation back on a balanced track so that both aims can be fulfilled harmoniously".
With the removal of Gandhi, the government would try to professionalise CPCSEA, it is learnt.