Maneka Gandhi condemns draft rules easing animal lab trial approvals
· India · Indian Express
Animal welfare group People for Animals, founded by former Union minister Maneka Gandhi, has strongly criticised the Centre's draft 2026 laboratory animal rules alleging they weaken central oversight. The draft Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (Control and Supervision of Experiment, Breeding and Trading of Laboratory Animals) Rules, 2026, allows institutions to self-approve mild and moderate experiments on larger animals without referral to the Committee for Control and Supervision of Experiments on Animals (CCSEA). The rules, released this month by the Ministry of Fisheries, Animal Husbandry and Dairying, seek to replace the 1998 Breeding of and Experiments on Animals framework. Gandhi's statement argues the proposed changes raise serious concerns over animal safeguards and institutional independence in research ethics.
Why it matters
The draft rules would allow institutions conducting experiments on animals such as dogs and primates to approve mild or moderate trials internally, bypassing the central CCSEA regulatory body and raising questions about the independence of research ethics decisions.
Read the original report — Indian Express
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