Govt withdrew DNA Bill as it didn't want elaborate safeguards: Congress

Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh alleged on Tuesday that the BJP-led government does not want adequate safeguards in DNA technology and that is why it has withdrawn the DNA Technology (Use and Application) Regulation Bill, 2019 from Parliament.

Ramesh said the government led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi quietly withdrew the Bill from the Lok Sabha on Monday.

The Bill was examined in detail by the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Science and Technology, which suggested a number of important amendments to ensure that the provisions in it were not misused or abused, the Congress leader said.

A few members had submitted notes of dissent as well, he pointed out, adding that the committee's report was submitted on February 3, 2021.

"Now the Modi government says most of the provisions of the Bill have already been made part of the Criminal Procedure (Identification) Act, 2022 and hence the DNA Bill is not required.

"Actually, the real reason is that the Modi government did NOT want the elaborate safeguards recommended by the Standing Committee and decided to just ignore it after having pressed for early submission of its report," Ramesh said on Twitter.

"The fears of the critics of the government's DNA Bill now stand fully justified," he added.

Ramesh is the chairman of the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Science and Technology.

The government withdrew the DNA Technology (Use and Application) Regulation Bill, 2019 from the Lok Sabha on Monday.

Amid sloganeering by opposition members over the situation in strife-torn Manipur, Union minister Jitendra Singh withdrew the Bill.

The Bill, introduced on July 8, 2019, sought to regulate the use and application of Deoxyribonucleic Acid (DNA) technology for the purpose of establishing the identity of certain categories of people, including victims, offenders, suspects, undertrials, those missing and unidentified deceased.

An official said since most of the provisions of the Bill were broadly covered in the Criminal Procedure (Identification) Act, 2022 brought by the Ministry of Home Affairs, a decision was taken by the government to withdraw it.