National Anti-Doping Bill gets parliament nod

NEW DELHI: Parliament on Wednesday passed a bill which seeks to provide a statutory framework for the functioning of the National Anti-Doping Agency and the National Dope Testing Laboratory.

The National Anti-Doping Bill, 2022 was passed by a voice vote in Rajya Sabha. It was cleared by Lok Sabha last week along with certain official amendments.

Sports and Youth Affairs Minister Anurag Thakur while responding to debate on the bill said that currently India can carry out only about 6,000 tests a year, and the law would help in increasing the testing capacity significantly.

He said for holding any large international championship, the number of tests required could be as high as 10,000 a month.

Thakur also said that with passage of this bill, India will join the club select countries like, the US, China, Japan, and France, which have their own laws related to check doping in sports. Several amendments moved by the Opposition were negated. The bill is intended to provide a "statutory framework for the operation of the National Anti-Doping Agency (NADA), the National Dope Testing Laboratory (NDTL) and other dope testing laboratories, and for the creation of a National Board for Anti-Doping in Sports to strengthen anti-doping activities in sport".

It seeks to give NADA powers of "investigation, levying sanctions for anti-doping rule violations, the disciplinary procedures to be adopted and the powers of inspection, sample collection and sharing and free flow of information." It also provides for the establishment of the NDTL and other dope testing laboratories.