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MoFAHD reconstitutes Committee for Control and Supervision of Experiments on Animals
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Gireesh Babu, New Delhi
January 24 , 2025
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The ministry of fisheries, animal husbandry and dairying (MoFAHD) has reconstituted the Committee for Control and Supervision of Experiments on Animals (CCSEA), substituting the prevailing Committee it formed in November, 2021.
According to the notification issued on January 16, Dr Abhijith Mitra, Animal Husbandry Commissioner (AHC), Department of Animal Husbandry & Dairying, will be the chairman of the Committee.
The notification lists a total of 19 members, with representatives from Animal Welfare Board of India, Veterinary Council of India, Pharmacy Council of India, Central Drugs Standard Control Organisation, National Medical Commission, University Grants Commission, Indian Council of Medical Research, Council of Scientific and Industrial Research, and Department of Biotechnology, among others.
Dr Sujit Kumar Dutta, joint commissioner, Department of Animal Husbandry & Dairying, will continue as the Member Secretary of the Committee.
The term of the Committee shall, unless dissolved sooner, be three years from the date of its constitution.
The tenure of the existing committee expired in November, 2024, and the government has called for nominations from various categories to constitute a new Committee, before the expiry. The Ministry called for nominations from the categories including pharmaceutical science, bio-statistics, veterinary sciences and zoology, and experts of livestock or requines or dogs and non-human primates.
The existing committee was constituted through a notification on November 2, 2021 for a period of three years from the date of its constitution, unless dissolved sooner.
Through a notification issued on December 16, the Ministry has amended this notification to extend the tenure till the constitution of the subsequent Committee.
The notification in 2021 was later amended with the inclusion of Animal Husbandry Commissioner as Chairman and representative from ICMR as Member of Committee and updating the designations of a few members through another notification on August 16, 2024.
The CCSEA is constituted under Section 15(1) of the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act, 1960, which is duty bound to take all such measures as may be necessary to ensure that animals are not subjected to unnecessary pains or suffering before, during or after performance of experiments on them.
The CCSEA functions within the ambit of the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act 1960 and Rules for Breeding of and Experiments on Animal (Control and Supervision), 1998 as amended from time to time. Joint Secretary (Animal Welfare) is the Chairman of CCSEA and Joint Commissioner (Animal Welfare) is the Member Secretary of CCSEA.
CCSEA is duty bound to take all such measures as may be necessary to ensure that animals are not subjected to unnecessary pain or suffering before, during or after performance of experiments on them. The Committee formulated the “Breeding of and Experiments on Animals (Control & Supervision) Rules, 1998” (amended in 2001 and 2006) to regulate the experimentation on animals.
Under the provisions of the above rules, establishments engaged in bio-medical research are required to get themselves registered with CCSEA, constitute institutional animal ethics committee (IAEC), get their animal house facilities inspected, and also get specific projects for research cleared by CCSEA before commencing the research on animals.
Further, breeding and trade of animals for such experimentation are also regulated under these rules.
According to the Annual Report of the Ministry, as on March 31, 2024, 1633 establishments are registered with CCSEA. During the fiscal year 2023-24, the CCSEA has seen registration and constitution of 72 IAECs, renewal and reconstitution of 275 IAECs, and revision of 362 IAECs. The CCSEA has held 12 meetings during the fiscal, and research protocols of 634 large animal projects were approved. A total of 146 nominees of CCSEA were trained during the period, and seven mid term inspections of the establishments to check the health status of large animals and status of research protocols which have been approved by the Committee were conducted.
The objectives of the Committee is to bring untapped academic and bio-medical research organizations under the ambit of the rules framed by registering them to regulate the experiments on animals, to create awareness of ethics while conducting experiments on animals by way sponsoring and conducting conferences, and conducting regional workshops cum training programmes for nominees of CCSEA.
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