Maharashtra Minister Uday Samant today said the state government has drafted a law to crack down on bogus pathology labs, which will provide punishment to violators.
During the Question Hour in the state assembly, Mr Samant, the higher and technical education minister, said the proposed law would entail proper rules and regulations, and flying squads would be formed to check violations.
Unregistered pathology laboratories will not be allowed to operate, he said.
The issue concerns the urban development, public health and medical education departments, Mr Samant said.
BJP MLA Ashish Shelar said bogus pathology labs were looting money and playing with people's lives.
Several collection centres that have come up over the years should be registered, he said, demanding criminal cases against violators.
NCP (SP) legislator Rajesh Tope said the Nursing Home Act should be amended if the state government can't implement the new law soon.
To this, the minister said the draft of the new law was ready, and if needed, the Nursing Home Act would also be amended.
Yogesh Sagar of the BJP said pathology forms a base for any surgery, and the poor end up going to bogus labs for testing.
Shiv Sena (UBT) MLA Ajay Choudhary claimed that bogus pathology labs work in connivance with government hospitals.
The discussion took place on a question by BJP legislator Sunil Rane, who sought data about the number of pathology labs in Mumbai.
He expressed surprise at the government's reply that under existing rules of the Mumbai Municipal Corporation Act 1888, there was no provision for registration of pathology labs.
Fire NOC, certification from the National Accreditation Board for Testing and Calibration Laboratories, certification for good clinical practices, and registration for bio-medical waste disposal are required, he said.
The minister said the Maharashtra Paramedical Council had authorised 7,085 candidates to operate pathology labs since 2019, and of these, 182 were in Mumbai.
There were 197 labs in civic-run hospitals in Mumbai, he added.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
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