Public Health Emergency Laws: A Comparative Legal Review of Uttarakhand and Best Practice States in India

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic highlighted significant deficiencies in India’s governance of public health emergencies, particularly at the state level where implementation responsibilities are concentrated. This research does a comparative legal review of Uttarakhand’s public health emergency framework compared to model states like Kerala and Tamil Nadu, which are recognized for having thorough and rights-oriented health legislation. Based on Lawrence O. Gostin’s Public Health Law Theory as the framework of evaluation, the paper analyzes legal preparedness, administrative clarity, enforcement tools, and rights protection under state statutes. The study suggests that Uttarakhand remains reliant on old colonial legislation, including the Epidemic Diseases Act of 1897 and the Disaster Management Act of 2005. These are not specific, flexible, or procedurally secure. In sharp contrast, Kerala’s Public Health Act of 2023 and the amended Tamil Nadu Public Health Act of 1939 present customized and integrated legal constructs that support these decentralized, prevention-focused, and timely moral public health interventions. The paper highlights the utmost urgency for Uttarakhand to develop a specialized and revised Public Health Law that learns from the legislative innovations and institutional models adopted by its peer states. Recommendations involve incorporating multi-level governance mechanisms, community participation, improved surveillance infrastructure, and intrinsic rights guarantees to provide timely, effective, and equitable interventions for addressing subsequent public health emergencies.