Bill Empowering National Anti-Doping Agency, Dope Testing Laboratory Passed In Parliament

National Anti-Doping Agency: The bill becoming law will not only help sports and sportspersons but will also give a boost to the "Self-reliant India" campaign, said Anurag Singh Thakur.

A general view of the Indian parliament building in New Delhi (Source: File photo/AFP)

New Delhi: Parliament on Wednesday approved the National Anti-Doping Bill, 2022 to legalise the functioning of the National Anti-Doping Agency and the National Doping Testing Laboratory. Responding to the discussion on the bill in the Rajya Sabha, Youth and Sports Minister Anurag Singh Thakur said that the bill becoming a law will not only help sports and sportspersons, but will also give a boost to the "Self-reliant India" campaign.

Watch LIVE - Reply of Union Minister for Youth Affairs & Sports Sh @ianuragthakur on 'The National Anti-Doping Bill,2021 debate in Rajya Sabha for consideration and passing.@sansad_tv https://t.co/zLTP31pWa1

— Office of Mr. Anurag Thakur (@Anurag_Office) August 3, 2022

"Currently India can carry out only about 6,000 tests a year, and the law would help in increasing the testing capacity significantly," said Thakur while responding to debate on the bill.

He said for holding any enormous global title, the quantity of tests required could be essentially as high as 10,000 every month.

Thakur additionally expressed that with passage of this bill, India will join the club select nations like, the US, China, Japan, and France, which have their own regulations connected with check doping in sports.

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. 

(With PTI Inputs)