Five states yet to report formation of Appropriate Authority under ART, Surrogacy Regulation Acts
With less than ten days to meet the deadline mandating the registration of Assisted Reproductive Technology (ART) clinics, ART banks and Surrogacy Clinics to be eligible to conduct counselling and procedures, five more States are yet to report to the Centre on appointment of appropriate authority.
In a relief to the Centre, 12 out of the 17 States which failed to appoint the appropriate authority in early August, have reported forming of the authority so far. The ministry of health and family welfare (MoHFW) in August released a list of 17 states which failed to constitute the approval authorities till then, while extending the deadline for the ART and surrogacy clinics and ART banks to conduct counselling and procedures without the registration for three more months, till October 24, 2022.
Out of the initial list of 17 States, five States – Assam, Bihar, Tripura, Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand – now remain in the list of States which failed to appoint the concerned authority.
The MoHFW in a corrigenda released on October 13, said that it omits names of the states of Gujarat, Himachal Pradesh, Jharkhand, Meghalaya and Sikkim from the list since they have complied with the constitution of the Authority. In August 22, it omitted the names of Chhattisgarh, Goa, Haryana, Karnataka, Manipur, Nagaland, and Rajasthan from the list, in a similar manner.
The Ministry, earlier in the Assisted Reproductive Technology (Regulation) Act, 2021 and the Surrogacy (Regulation) Act, 2021 has mandated that the clinics and banks conducting procedures relating to ART and Surrogacy, shall cease to conduct any such counselling or procedures on the expiry of six months from the date of commencement of the Act, unless such clinics and banks have applied for registration and registered separately or till such application is disposed of, whichever is earlier.
The date of commencement of the Act was January 25, 2022 and based on the provision in the Act, the clinics and banks were to be registered before July 24, 2022.
The state governments and Union Territories, according to the Acts, were to appoint and notify one or more appropriate assistive reproductive technology and surrogacy authorities for the whole or part of the state for this approval process, within 90 days from the date of commencement of the Act. The Central government has in fact, constituted Appropriate Authorities for eight Union Territories through a notification on May 4, 2022.
However, in early August, it announced that 17 state governments – Assam, Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Goa, Gujarat, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Jharkhand, Karnataka, Manipur, Meghalaya, Nagaland, Rajasthan, Sikkim, Tripura, Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand – have not constituted the Appropriate Authorities even after the timeline is over. This has caused difficulties, which may adversely affect the conduction of the counselling or procedures related to ART and surrogacy being conducted by clinics or banks falling under the jurisdiction of these states.
The MoHFW then issued a notification called the Assisted Reproductive Technology (Regulation) and Surrogacy (Regulation) (removal of difficulties) Order, 2022, in order to address the issue.
Through the notification, the Ministry has allowed the ART clinics, banks and surrogacy clinics falling under the jurisdiction of these 17 states to conduct counselling or procedures pertaining to ART and surrogacy beyond July 24, 2022, and upto a maximum period of three months, which is upto October 24, 2022. The notification has come into force with effect from July 25, 2022.
The application for registration for a surrogacy clinic shall be accompanied by an application fee of Rs. 2 lakh for surrogacy clinic and the application fee once paid shall not be refunded. However, if an application for registration of any surrogacy clinic is rejected by the appropriate authority, no fee shall be required to be paid on re-submission of the application by the applicant for the same clinic. Government run institutes need not pay for applications.
Centre has earlier this year notified the National Assisted Reproductive Technology and Surrogacy Board (NARTSB) headed by the MoHFW as the Chairperson to regulate ART clinics and Banks.
Under the Act, the NARTSB has powers to advise the Central government on policy matters relating to the ART, to review and monitor the implementation of the Act, Rules and regulations, to lay down code of conduct to be observed by persons working at clinics and banks, to set the minimum standards of physical infrastructure, laboratory and diagnostic equipment and expert manpower to be employed by the clinics and banks. The Board also has to oversee the performance of various bodies constituted under the Act and supervise the functioning of the National Registry and liaison with the State Boards and pass orders as per the provisions made under the Act.
The ART (Regulation) Act was notified by the government on December 21, and the Surrogacy (Regulation) Act was notified on December 25, 2021.
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