Context: Recently, Epidemic Diseases Amendment Ordinance 2020 has been recently passed by the Odisha Government to amend Section 3 of the Epidemic Diseases Act, 1897.
About Epidemic Diseases Amendment Ordinance, 2020

• According to the Act, anyone who disobeys any regulation or order made under the Act, is liable for imprisonment up to 2 years or with a fine of up to Rs 10,000 or with both. All offences under the Act shall be cognizable and bailable.
• The Act also noted that any person disobeying any regulation or order made under the 1897 Act was deemed to have committed an offence punishable under Section 188 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC), under Section 3 of the Act.
• Further, a provision has also been also made in the Ordinance for special procurement of critical drugs and consumables to manage the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak.

Odisha’s department of health and family welfare has also framed regulations which have two provisions:

• Not wearing a mask in public place shall be considered as an offence.
• The penalty for the first three instances has been kept at Rs 200 while for offences beyond that, the penalty shall be Rs 500 for each offence in the state.

About Epidemic Diseases Act of 1897

• The Epidemic Diseases Act of 1897 is routinely enforced across the country for dealing with outbreaks of diseases such as swine flu, dengue, and cholera.
• It was introduced by colonial government to tackle the epidemic of plague that had spread in the erstwhile Bombay Presidency in the 1890s.

Provisions of the 1897 Epidemic Diseases Act

• The Act empowers state governments/UTs to take special measures and formulate regulations for containing the outbreak.
• Further, the Act also empowers the state to prescribe such temporary regulations that are to be observed by the public or by any person or class of persons as it shall deem necessary to prevent the outbreak of such disease or the spread thereof.
• The state may determine in what manner and by whom any expenses incurred (including compensation if any) shall be defrayed.
• The State Government may take measures and prescribe regulations for the inspection of persons travelling by railway or otherwise, and the segregation, in hospital, temporary accommodation or otherwise, of persons suspected by the inspecting officer of being infected with any such disease.
• It also provides penalties for disobeying any regulation or order made under the Act. These are according to section 188 of the Indian Penal Code (Disobedience to order duly promulgated by public servant).
• The Act also gives legal protection to the implementing officers acting under the Act.

Criticism about the Act

• The Act has been criticized by the Historians for its potential for abuse. With the help of the powers conferred by the Act, colonies authorities would search suspected plague cases in homes and among passengers, with forcible segregation, evacuations, and demolitions of infected places.
• In 1897, the year the law was enforced, freedom fighter Bal Gangadhar Tilak was punished with 18 months’ rigorous imprisonment after his newspapers Kesari and Mahratta admonished imperial authorities for their handling of the plague epidemic.

Previous Implementation of the Act

• 2009 Swine Flu outbreak in Pune: At that time, powers under Section 2 of the Act were used to open screening centres in civic hospitals across the city, and swine flu was declared a notifiable disease.
• 2015 Dengue outbreak in Chandigarh: The Act was implemented and controlling officers were instructed to ensure the issuance of notices and challans of Rs 500 to offenders.
• 2018 Cholera outbreak in Gujarat’s Vadodara: The district collector of Gujarat’s Vadodara issued a notification under the Act declaring the Khedkarmsiya village in Waghodia taluka as cholera-affected after 31 persons complained of symptoms of the disease.