A Parliamentary panel has once again come down heavily on the Department of AIDS Control for the long delay in introducing the HIV/AIDS (Prevention and Control) Bill, which has been pending now over a decade after a decision was taken to ensure equality of treatment to AIDS/HIV patients.

“The Committee feels that in spite of numerous recommendations made by it, the Bill seems to be stuck up for reasons best known to the Ministry. The Committee would like the Ministry to take its recommendations with the seriousness it deserves and recommends that the Secretary of the Department of AIDS Control should personally monitor the progress of the Bill to ensure its introduction in the Parliament at the earliest,” the Parliamentary Standing Committee attached to the Health Ministry said in its latest report.

According to the Department, as claimed before the panel, it was closely working with the Ministry of Law & Justice to finalize the HIV/AIDS (Prevention & Control) Bill 2013. A Draft Note for Cabinet in this regard had been prepared by the Department of AIDS Control and sent to the Ministry of Law & Justice on 6.6.2013, it said.

“On behalf of the Ministry of Law & Justice, the Dept. of Legal Affairs is to submit its opinion and the Legislative Department is to vet the draft Bill. This is currently under process and once these steps have been completed the same will be sent for approval of the Cabinet. Department of AIDS Control is ensuring that all due procedures are followed prior to tabling of the Bill in Parliament,” the department said.

In its earlier report also the panel had asked the department to speed up the process. “The Committee does not understand the reasons why it should take more than ten years to finalise a Bill when a decision was taken in 2002. The Bill is yet to be finalized. The delay is not justifiable when the problem is enormous and India is third largest AIDS/HIV affected country,” the panel said.

The draft bill had been pending since August 2006, when the health ministry finalized it. It was then submitted to the law ministry in September 2007 for its mandatory clearance. The law ministry in October 2008 sent its version of the Bill back to the ministry of health. However, several important provisions were compromised in this version. Following this, there were countrywide protests, and in February 2009, the law ministry sent a revised version of the Bill.