NEWS

Haryana government invoked the Essential Services Maintenance Act after the Outdoor Patient Department services across the State were crippled due to a day-long strike by the doctors in support of their demands.

ESMA, 1968

• Established to ensure the delivery of certain services, which if obstructed would affect the normal life of the people.
• These include services like public transport (bus services), health services (doctors and hospitals).
• Gives police right to arrest without a warrant anybody violating the Act’s provisions.
• Implementation:
  • The ESMA is a law made by the Parliament of India under List No. 33 in Concurrent List of 7th Schedule of Constitution of India.
  • Although it is a very powerful law, its execution rests entirely on the discretion of the State government. Each state in the union of India, hence has a separate state Essential Services Maintenance Act with slight variations from the central law in its provisions. This freedom is accorded by the central law itself.