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22/02/24 14:22 PM IST

Assam Government tables Bill against ‘magic healing’

In News
  • The Assam Healing (Prevention of Evil) Practices Bill, 2024, was tabled in the 126-member State Assembly.
Major Provisions
  • The proposed legislation seeks to promote social awakening and foster a safe, science-based environment to protect public health against harmful practices based on ignorance and ill health apart from eliminating “non-scientific healing practices used with malicious intent to exploit innocent individuals”.
  • Section 3 of the Bill, the government is empowered to ban evil or magical healing practices for treating certain diseases and health disorders. Section 4 allows the government to prohibit misleading advertisements for such practices.
  • The bill includes several key sections for curbing “inhuman, evil, or magical healing” practices. Section 5 empowers the government to punish any act or promotion of such practices while Section 6 extends this to include imprisonment for a year, extendable up to three years, or a fine of ₹50,000, or both.
  • For repeated offences, the convicted could face up to five years in jail or a fine of ₹1 lakh, or both.
  • Section 9 of the Bill empowers the government to appoint police officers as vigilance officers to handle such cases. Section 16 further empowers the government to frame rules to implement the provisions of the Bill.
  • The Bill contains definitions of both ‘evil practices’ and ‘healing and healing practices.’
  • The first has been defined as “commission of any act of healing practices and magical healing, by any person, with a sinister motive to exploit common people.”
  • The latter has been defined as “a traditional holistic approach to heal body, mind and spirit of human being with traditional medicine and art including any system, treatment, diagnosis, or practise for ascertainment, cure, relief, correction of any human diseases, ailment, deformity, injury or enhancement of a condition or appearance.”
Source- The Hindu

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