Lok Sabha Question No. 3268 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2022-08-05
Subject: Bio-safety Laboratories
Ministry: HEALTH AND FAMILY WELFARE
Asked by: S. Gnanathiraviam

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF HEALTH AND FAMILY WELFARE DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH RESEARCH

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 3268 TO BE ANSWERED ON 5 TH  AUGUST, 2022

## BIO-SAFETY LABORATORIES

## 3268 SHRI GNANATHIRAVIAM S.:

Will the Minister of HEALTH AND FAMILY WELFARE be pleased to state:

- (a) whether the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) has developed a comprehensive action plan to strengthen country's capability to combat the threat of bio-terrorism;
- (b) if so, the details of the specific infectious organisms identified so far;
- (c) the number of bio-safety laboratories set up so far and the locations thereof, State/UT-wise;
- (d) the details of countries/foreign organizations assisting in setting up bio-safety laboratories across the country;
- (e) whether these laboratories conform to the international standards; and
- (f) if so, the details thereof and if not, the reasons therefor?

## ANSWER THE MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF HEALTH AND FAMILY WELFARE (DR. BHARATI PRAVIN PAWAR)

(a) to (f): For preparedness and response against health emergencies, the National Disaster Management Authority  in  2008  has  issued  detailed  guidance  on  management  of  biological  disasters  (available  at https://ndma.gov.in/sites/default/files/PDF/Guidelines/biological\_disasters.pdf).

Further,  National  Disaster  Management  Authority  has  also  issued  and  widely  circulated  National  Disaster Management Plan 2019 which provides an all-hazard plan with clarification on roles and responsibilities for preparedness and response activities against biological emergencies.

Ministry of Health and Family Welfare provides requisite guidance and logistic support to the States/UTs. The Integrated Disease Surveillance Programme through its State and District units conducts disease surveillance in the country through a decentralized State based surveillance system for epidemic prone diseases to detect the early warning signals, so that effective public health actions can be initiated in response to health challenges in the country.

As per the information received from the Department of Biotechnology (DBT), the DBT has notified a 'List of Infective Microorganisms corresponding to different Risk Groups, 2021' which provides the list of Infective Microorganisms  corresponding  to  different  Risk  Groups,  which  determine  the  operational  practice  and minimum physical containment requirements and accordingly, allows selection of appropriate biosafety level facilities. The list can be accessed from https://dbtindia.gov.in/sites/default/files/Updated%20Risk%20Group13122021.pdf .

138  bio-safety  laboratories  have  been  set  up  across  the  country  under  the  Department  of  Health  Research (DHR)'s Scheme- Setting up of Nation-wide network of Laboratories for managing Epidemics and Natural Calamities (VRDL). State/UT wise list is attached as Annexure-I. Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) has  a  well-established  laboratory  infrastructure,  to  combat  biosafety  and  biosecurity  threats  to  the  country, including apex lab at National Institute of Virology (NIV), Pune

DBT has notified the 'Guidelines for the Establishment of containment facilities: BioSafety Level 2 (BSL-2) &  3  (BSL-3)  and  Certification  of  BSL-3  facility'  and  Regulations  &  Guidelines  for  Recombinant  DNA Research and Biocontainment, 2017. The  guidelines encompass  biosafety standards laid by various international agencies. All the biosafety laboratories specifically BSL-4 and BSL-3 established at ICMR and its  network  laboratories  are  trained  in  Biosafety  laboratory  operationalization.  The  key  scientific  staff  of ICMR-NIV, Pune has also been trained at Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), USA in biosafety practices.

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| State/UT               |                        | Name of VRDLs                                                               |
|------------------------|------------------------|-----------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| Andaman VRDLs)         | (2                     | Regional Medical Research Centre, Port Blair                                |
| Andaman VRDLs)         | (2                     | Andaman & Nicobar Island Institute of Medical Sciences (ANIIMS), Port Blair |
| Andhra Pradesh VRDLs)  | (8                     | Sri Venkateswara Institute of Medical Sciences, Tirupati, Andhra Pradesh    |
| Andhra Pradesh VRDLs)  | (8                     | Siddhartha Medical College, Vijayawada                                      |
| Andhra Pradesh VRDLs)  | (8                     | Government Medical College, Anantapur                                       |
| Andhra Pradesh VRDLs)  | (8                     | Rajeev Gandhi Institute of Medical Sciences, Kadapa                         |
| Andhra Pradesh VRDLs)  | (8                     | Rangaraya Medical College, Kakinada                                         |
| Andhra Pradesh VRDLs)  | (8                     | Guntur Medical College, Guntur                                              |
| Andhra Pradesh VRDLs)  | (8                     | Andhra Medical college, Vishakhapatnam                                      |
| Andhra Pradesh VRDLs)  | (8                     | All India Institute of Medical and Sciences, Mangalagiri, Andhra Pradesh    |
| Assam VRDLs)           | (6                     | Regional Medical Research Centre, Dibrugarh                                 |
| Assam VRDLs)           | (6                     | Gauhati Medical College, Guwahati                                           |
| Assam VRDLs)           | (6                     | Silchar Medical College, Silchar                                            |
| Assam VRDLs)           | (6                     | Jorhat Medical College, Jorhat                                              |
| Assam VRDLs)           | (6                     | Tezpur Medical College, Tezpur                                              |
| Assam VRDLs)           | (6                     | Fakhruddin Medical College, Barpeta                                         |
| Bihar VRDLs)           | (6                     | Patna Medical College, Patna                                                |
| Bihar VRDLs)           | (6                     | Darbhanga Medical College, Darbhanga                                        |
| Bihar VRDLs)           | (6                     | S K Medical College, Muzaffarpur                                            |
| Bihar VRDLs)           | (6                     | All India Institute of Medical Sciences, AIIMS Patna (Bihar)                |
| Bihar VRDLs)           | (6                     | Rajendra Memorial Research Institute of Medical Sciences, Patna             |
| Bihar VRDLs)           | (6                     | Jawahar Lal Nehru Medical College & Hospital, Bhagalpur                     |
| Chandigarh (2 VRDLs)   | Chandigarh (2 VRDLs)   | PGIMER, Chandigarh                                                          |
| Chandigarh (2 VRDLs)   | Chandigarh (2 VRDLs)   | Government Medical College & Hospital, Chandigarh                           |
| Chhattisgarh (2 VRDLs) | Chhattisgarh (2 VRDLs) | Late Sri Baliram Kashyap Memorial Govt. Medical College, Jagdalpur          |

## Annexure-I

| VRDLs)                      | Sciences, New Delhi- 110029                                                           |
|-----------------------------|---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| VRDLs)                      | Dr. Ram Manohar Lohia Hospital and Atal Bihari Vajpayee Institute of Medical Sciences |
| VRDLs)                      | Lady Hardinge Medical College, New Delhi                                              |
| VRDLs)                      | University College of Medical Sciences & Guru Teg Hospital, Delhi                     |
| VRDLs)                      | Maulana Azad Medical Colege, New Delhi                                                |
| Goa                         | Goa Medical College , Bambolim                                                        |
| Gujarat VRDLs)              | B.J. Medical College, Ahmedabad                                                       |
| Gujarat VRDLs)              | M.P. Shah Medical College, Jamnagar                                                   |
| Gujarat VRDLs)              | Government Medical College, Surat                                                     |
| Gujarat VRDLs)              | GMC, Bhavnagar                                                                        |
| Gujarat VRDLs)              | PDU GMC, Rajkot                                                                       |
| Gujarat VRDLs)              | Government Medical College & SSG Hospital, Vadodara                                   |
| Haryana VRDLs)              | PGIMS, Rohtak                                                                         |
| Haryana VRDLs)              | BPS Government Medical College for Women, Sonepat                                     |
| Himachal Pradesh VRDLs)     | Indira Gandhi Medical College, Shimla                                                 |
| Himachal Pradesh VRDLs)     | Dr. Radha Krishna Govt. Medical College, Hamirpur, Himachal Pradesh                   |
| Himachal Pradesh VRDLs)     | Lal Bahadur Shashtri Medical College, Mandi, Himachal Pradesh                         |
| Himachal Pradesh VRDLs)     | Dr.Rajendra Prasad Government Medical College, Tanda                                  |
| Himachal Pradesh VRDLs)     | Pt. Jawaharlal Nehru Govt. Medical College, Chamba, Himachal Pradesh                  |
| Jammu and Kashmir (4 VRDLs) | Sher-i-Kashmir Institute of Medical Sciences, Srinagar                                |
| Jammu and Kashmir (4 VRDLs) | Government Medical College, Jammu                                                     |
| Jammu and Kashmir (4 VRDLs) | Government Medical College, Srinagar                                                  |
| Jammu and Kashmir (4 VRDLs) | Government Medical College, Baramulla                                                 |
| Jharkhand (3 VRDLs)         | Rajendra Institute of Medical Sciences, Ranchi                                        |
| Jharkhand (3 VRDLs)         | MGM Medical College, Jamshedpur                                                       |
| Jharkhand (3 VRDLs)         | All India Institute of Medical Sciences, Deogarh, Jharkhand                           |
| Karnataka (7 VRDLs)         | Bangalore Medical College & Research Institute, Bangalore                             |
| Karnataka (7 VRDLs)         | Mysore Medical College & Research                                                     |

|                        |    | Institute, Mysore                                                         |
|------------------------|----|---------------------------------------------------------------------------|
|                        |    | Vijayanagar Institute of Medical Science, Bellary                         |
|                        |    | Hassan Institute of Medical Sciences, Hassan                              |
|                        |    | Shimoga Institute of Medical Sciences                                     |
|                        |    | Karnataka Institute of Medical Sciences, Hubballi                         |
|                        |    | Gulbarga Institute Of Medical Sciences, Gulbarga                          |
| Kerala VRDLs)          | (5 | Government Medical College, Kozhikode                                     |
|                        |    | National Institute of Virology, Alappuzha                                 |
|                        |    | Government Medical College, Trivandrum                                    |
|                        |    | Government Medical College, Thrissur                                      |
|                        |    | Government Medical College, Kannur, Pariyaram                             |
| Madhya Pradesh VRDLs)  |    | AIIMS, Bhopal                                                             |
|                        | (6 | Bundelkhand Medical College, Sagar                                        |
|                        |    | MGM Medical College, Indore                                               |
|                        |    | Gajra Raja Medical College, Gwalior                                       |
|                        |    | National Institute for Research in Tribal Health (NIRTH), Jabalpur        |
| Maharashtra (11 VRDLs) |    | Indira Gandhi Government Medical College, Nagpur                          |
|                        |    | Government Medical College, Miraj, Sangli                                 |
|                        |    | Kasturba Hospital for Infectious Diseases, Mumbai                         |
|                        |    | Seth GS Medical College & KEM Hospital , Mumbai                           |
|                        |    | AIIMS, Nagpur                                                             |
|                        |    | Government Medical college, Nagpur                                        |
|                        |    | Government Medical College, Aurangabad                                    |
|                        |    | V. M. Government Medical College, Solapur                                 |
|                        |    | Shri Bhausaheb Hire Government Medical College, Dhule                     |
|                        |    | Government Medical College and Hospital & Superspeciality Hospital, Akola |
|                        |    | Armed Forces Medical College (AFMC), Pune                                 |
| Manipur VRDLs)         | (2 | Regional Institute of Medical Sciences, Imphal                            |

|                  |               | JNIMS, Imphal                                                                                            |
|------------------|---------------|----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| Meghalaya        | Meghalaya     | NEIGRIHMS, Shillong                                                                                      |
| Mizoram          | Mizoram       | Zoram Medical College                                                                                    |
| Odisha VRDLs)    | (6            | RMRC, Bhubaneswar                                                                                        |
| Odisha VRDLs)    | (6            | SCB Medical College, Cuttack                                                                             |
| Odisha VRDLs)    | (6            | AIIMS, Bhubaneswar                                                                                       |
| Odisha VRDLs)    | (6            | Saheed Laxman Nayak Medical College & Hospital, Koraput, Odisha (SLNMCH)                                 |
| Odisha VRDLs)    | (6            | Veer Surendra Sai Institute of Medical Sciences and Research, Burla, Sambalpur, Odisha                   |
| Odisha VRDLs)    | (6            | Maharaja Krishna Chandra Gajapati Medical College and Hospital, Brahmapur.                               |
| Puducherry (2    | Puducherry (2 | JIPMER, Puducherry                                                                                       |
| VRDLs)           | VRDLs)        | Indira Gandhi Medical College & Research Institute, Puducherry                                           |
| Punjab VRDLs)    | (3            | Government Medical College, Amritsar                                                                     |
|                  |               | Guru Gobind Singh Medical College, Faridkot, Punjab                                                      |
|                  |               | Government Medical College, Patiala                                                                      |
| Rajasthan VRDLs) | (7            | SMS Medical College, Jaipur                                                                              |
|                  |               | Dr. S.N. Medical College, Jodhpur                                                                        |
|                  |               | RNT Medical College, Udaipur                                                                             |
|                  |               | S.P. Medical College & Associated Group of Hospitals, Bikaner, Rajasthan                                 |
|                  |               | Jhalawar Medical College, Jhalawar, Rajasthan                                                            |
|                  |               | AIIMS, Jodhpur                                                                                           |
|                  |               | Government Medical College, Kota, Rajasthan                                                              |
| Tamil Nadu       | Tamil Nadu    | Madurai Medical College, Madurai                                                                         |
| (10 VRDLs)       | (10 VRDLs)    | Government Medical College, Theni                                                                        |
|                  |               | Government Mohan Kumaramangalam Medical College, Salem                                                   |
|                  |               | Government Medical College, Thiruvarur                                                                   |
|                  |               | Government Medical College, Villupuram                                                                   |
|                  |               | Tirunelveli Medical College, Tirunelveli                                                                 |
|                  |               | Coimbatore Medical College, Coimbatore                                                                   |
|                  |               | King Institute of Preventive Medicine and Research, Chennai, Tamil Nadu Madras Medical College, Chennai, |

|                         | ICMR-National Institute for Research in Tuberculosis, Chennai          |
|-------------------------|------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| Tripura                 | Government Medical College, Agartala                                   |
| Telangana (4 VRDLs)     | Osmania Medical College, Hyderabad                                     |
| Telangana (4 VRDLs)     | Kakatiya Medical College, Nizampura, Warangal                          |
| Telangana (4 VRDLs)     | Gandhi Medical College, Secunderabad                                   |
| Telangana (4 VRDLs)     | All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), Bibinagar             |
| Uttar Pradesh (7 VRDLs) | King George Medical University, Lucknow                                |
| Uttar Pradesh (7 VRDLs) | J N Medical College, Aligarh                                           |
| Uttar Pradesh (7 VRDLs) | UPUMS,(Formerly UPRIMS) Saifai                                         |
| Uttar Pradesh (7 VRDLs) | Institute of Medical Sciences, Banaras Hindu University, Banaras       |
| Uttar Pradesh (7 VRDLs) | ICMR-Regional Medical Research Center, Gorakhpur                       |
| Uttar Pradesh (7 VRDLs) | All India Institute of Medical Science Raebareli, Uttar Pradesh        |
| Uttar Pradesh (7 VRDLs) | Government Institute of Medical Sciences, Greater Noida, Uttar Pradesh |
| Uttarakhand             | Government Medical College,                                            |

| (3 VRDLs)              | Haldwani                                                                       |
|------------------------|--------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| (3 VRDLs)              | AIIMS, Rishikesh                                                               |
| (3 VRDLs)              | Doon Government Medical College, Dehradun                                      |
| West Bengal (10 VRDLs) | NICED Virus Unit, Kolkata                                                      |
| West Bengal (10 VRDLs) | IPGMER, Kolkata                                                                |
| West Bengal (10 VRDLs) | Murshidabad Medical College & Hospital, Murshidabad, Berhampur, West Bengal    |
| West Bengal (10 VRDLs) | Midnapore Medical College & Hospital, Midnapore                                |
| West Bengal (10 VRDLs) | North Bengal Medical College, Darjeeling                                       |
| West Bengal (10 VRDLs) | Malda Medical College, Malda                                                   |
| West Bengal (10 VRDLs) | Burdwan Medical College                                                        |
| West Bengal (10 VRDLs) | RG Kar Medical College, Kolkata                                                |
| West Bengal (10 VRDLs) | Diamond Harbour Govt. Medical College & Hospital, Diamond Harbour, West Bengal |
| West Bengal (10 VRDLs) | All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), Kalyani, West Bengal          |

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