Topic – Issues relating to development and management of Social Sector/Services relating to Health, Education, Human Resources.
3) Discuss how The Personal Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2018, seeks to end the discrimination against leprosy patients.(250 words)
Why this question
A plethora of laws exist in the Indian legal framework, which discriminate against leprosy patients. Advances in medicine and science have led to demystifying various medical, social as well as religious misconceptions about the disease. Under these circumstances it is imperative to discuss the legislation which intends to remove the discriminations against leprosy patients.
Directive word
Discuss- This is an all-encompassing directive which mandates us to write in detail about the key demand of the question. We also have to discuss about the related and important aspects of the question in order to bring out a complete picture of the issue in hand
Key demand of the question.
The question wants us to write in detail about the salient provisions of the Personal Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2018, and write in detail as to how it seeks to end the discrimination against leprosy persons.
Structure of the answer
Introduction- write a few lines about the nature of leprosy disease. E.g It is an infectious but very less contagious disease caused by Mycobacterium leprae etc. Mention that India has the world’s largest no. of leprosy patients and also runs the world’s largest anti-leprosy programme- National Leprosy Eradication Program.
Body-
DIscuss how the Personal Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2018, seeks to end the discrimination against leprosy persons.
E.g it seeks to amend five Acts. These are: (i) the Divorce Act, 1869, (ii) the Dissolution of Muslim Marriage Act, 1939, (iii) the Special Marriage Act, 1954, (iv) the Hindu Marriage Act, 1955, and (v) the Hindu Adoptions and Maintenance Act, 1956. The Bill eliminates leprosy as a ground for dissolution of marriage or divorce. The condition under Section 18 (2) (c) of the Hindu Adoptions and Maintenance Act, that a Hindu wife is entitled to live separately from her husband without forfeiting her claim to maintenance if the latter is “suffering from a virulent form of leprosy”, has been omitted. The amendments introduced in the Bill omit the provisions which stigmatise and discriminate against leprosy-affected persons and provide for the integration of leprosy patients into the mainstream etc.
Mention that the provisions of the bill are in line with UN General Assembly Resolution of 2010 on the ‘Elimination of discrimination against persons affected by leprosy and their family members’ that it was introduced. India has signed and ratified the Resolution.
Conclusion– Based on your discussion, form a fair and a balanced conclusion on the given issue.
