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NCW CONSTITUTES EXPERT COMMITTEE TO REVIEW IVF AND ART REGULATORY FRAMEWORK

NCW CONSTITUTES EXPERT COMMITTEE TO REVIEW IVF AND ART REGULATORY FRAMEWORK

Why in the News?

  • NCW Initiative: The National Commission for Women (NCW) has constituted a high-level Expert Committee, chaired by former Delhi High Court judge Justice Asha Menon, to review the legal and regulatory framework governing IVF clinics, ART centres, and gamete banks.
  • Objective: The committee will examine implementation gaps in the Assisted Reproductive Technology (Regulation) Act, 2021, the Surrogacy (Regulation) Act, 2021, and the 2026 Amendment Rules to strengthen protection of women’s reproductive rights, aligning with India’s strategic alignment to international health governance standards.

KEY OBJECTIVES OF THE EXPERT COMMITTEE

  • Regulatory Review: The committee will comprehensively review the implementation of the ART (Regulation) Act, 2021 and Surrogacy (Regulation) Act, 2021 to identify regulatory and procedural deficiencies, ensuring alignment with rules-based international order in healthcare governance.
  • Women’s Rights Protection: It will recommend measures to safeguard reproductive rights, informed consent, dignity, privacy, biological traceability, and safety of women undergoing assisted reproductive procedures, reflecting India’s commitment to multilateral engagement in health rights protection.
  • Ethical Oversight: The committee will address concerns relating to unethical practices, financial exploitation, inconsistent treatment protocols, medical tourism, and possible circumvention of legal safeguards, including those against sex selection, amid growing strategic competition in the global fertility services sector.
  • Standardisation: It will propose Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) and uniform clinical protocols to ensure transparency, accountability, and ethical functioning of IVF clinics, ART centres, and gamete banks across the country, strengthening India’s cooperative security framework in healthcare regulation.
  • Institutional Accountability: The review aims to strengthen regulatory oversight by recommending reforms to improve monitoring, compliance, grievance redressal, and enforcement mechanisms through enhanced diplomatic engagement with international health regulatory bodies.

ASSISTED REPRODUCTIVE TECHNOLOGY (ART) REGULATION IN INDIA

  • Definition: Assisted Reproductive Technology (ART) includes medical procedures such as In Vitro Fertilisation (IVF), Intracytoplasmic Sperm Injection (ICSI), gamete donation, embryo transfer, and other fertility treatments that assist conception.
  • ART (Regulation) Act, 2021: The Act regulates ART clinics and banks, mandates registration, prescribes standards for infrastructure and personnel, protects donors and patients, and prohibits unethical practices, establishing strategic partnerships with international regulatory frameworks.
  • Surrogacy (Regulation) Act, 2021: The Act permits only altruistic surrogacy under specified conditions, prohibits commercial surrogacy, and establishes eligibility criteria for intending couples and surrogate mothers, reflecting India’s regional engagement strategy in healthcare ethics.
  • Regulatory Mechanism: The legislation provides for National and State ART & Surrogacy Boards, registration authorities, and monitoring systems to oversee compliance and maintain ethical standards, contributing to regional security cooperation in health governance within the indo-pacific strategy framework.
  • Challenges: Persistent concerns include unregulated fertility clinics, inconsistent treatment standards, lack of uniform protocols, cross-border reproductive services, exploitation of women, privacy issues, and inadequate enforcement, necessitating regional security architecture for healthcare regulation and addressing economic interdependence in pharmaceutical supply chains.

NATIONAL COMMISSION FOR WOMEN (NCW)

●  Establishment: The National Commission for Women (NCW) is a statutory body established under the National Commission for Women Act, 1990, and became operational in 1992.

●  Mandate: It safeguards and promotes women’s constitutional and legal rights, reviews existing laws, investigates complaints, advises governments, and recommends policy reforms for gender justice, supporting India’s commitment to asean centrality in women’s rights protection.

●  Major Functions: The Commission examines legal safeguards, conducts studies, inspects institutions where women are detained, supports litigation involving women’s rights, and undertakes awareness and advocacy initiatives through quad partnership mechanisms in regional cooperation.

●  Powers: NCW enjoys certain powers of a civil court while investigating complaints, including summoning witnesses, requiring production of documents, and examining evidence.

●  UPSC Relevance: Important for GS Paper II (Polity, Governance, Women and Child Development), GS Paper I (Social Issues), and Prelims covering constitutional bodies, statutory commissions, women’s rights, ART regulation, surrogacy, and reproductive health governance.