Centre gears up for DNA profiling

A bill presented in the parliament gives an impression that the government is gearing up for the controversial act of DNA profiling. The bill seeks the permission of the lawmaking body for the use of the technology of DNA profiling to establish the identity of certain persons, such as criminals, missing and unidentified deceased personals.

The bill, which has been tabled in the parliament by the minister of Science and Technology, Harsh Vardhan, has been opposed by the Congress on the ground that it has the potential to affect the privacy of individuals severely.

The government has rejected the objection. It has asserted that the bill would help the justice delivery mechanism of the system enormously.

Currently, the DNA technology is not widely used for solving crimes. There are assumptions that the technology, if used, may considerably reduce the average time duration investigators normally take to solve crimes.

A Congress leader, when the bill has been discussed in the parliament, has indirectly quipped that the decision of a government, which tries to decide what we should eat and who we should love, must be viewed with caution.

With the rightists gearing up for the bill and the leftists and centrists moving against, the bill is likely to open up several heated debate around the subject in the near future.

Vignesh. S. G

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