 bill  no 166 of  2018 the constitution (amendment)  bill,  2018 byshri nishikant dubey, mp a billfurther to amend the constitution of indiabe it enacted by parliament in the sixty-ninth year of the republic of india as follows:— 1 (1) this act may be called the constitution (amendment) act, 2018short title and commencement (2) it shall come into force on such date as the central government may, by notificationin the official gazette, appoint2 after article 21a of the constitution, the following article shall be inserted, namely:—insertion of new article 21b right to health''21b (1) the state shall provide health protection to all citizens in such manner as the state may, by law, determine(2) the right to health protection under sub-section (1) shall include—(a) prevention, treatment and control of diseases; (b) access to essential medicines;(c) maternal, child and reproductive health;(d) access to basic health services; (e) access to emergency medical treatment; and (f) access to mental healthcare:5provided that the state shall earmark not less than eight per cent of its annual estimated receipts for healthcare'' statement of objects and reasonsarticle 47 of the constitution makes it a duty of the state to raise the level of nutrition and the standard of living and to improve public health however, the current status of healthcare in india reflects that further measures are required to be taken by the state to assure health to all citizens of the statethe government expenditure on health is only 14 per cent of gross domestic product(gdp) and the public health infrastructure is inadequate and unequally distributed the draft national health policy, 2015 takes note of the fact that over 63 million persons are faced with poverty every year due to healthcare costs alone as there is no financial protection for the vast majority of healthcare needs according to sample registration system (srs) 2013, 126 million children under the age of five are estimated to die in our country every year due to preventable diseasesthus, due to lack of enforceability of directive principles, right to health remains unenforceable for citizens however, the supreme court in paschim banga khet mazdoor samity & ors v state of west bengal & ors, while widening the scope of article 21 held that providing adequate medical facilities for the citizens is an obligation of the government in a welfare state the right to health is also internationally recognised as a fundamental human right in 1946, the world health organisation stated in its constitution that "the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of health is one of the fundamental rights of every human being without distinction of race, religion, political belief, economic or social condition" this right is also included in the universal declaration of human rights and in the international covenant on economic, social and cultural rights, to which india is a signatorythe initial draft of national health policy, 2017 declared that right to health shall be guaranteed as an enforceable fundamental right under the constitution in order to empower the citizens to hold the state accountable for it the national health policy, 2017 requires the states to spend at least 8 per cent of their annual budget on healthcaretherefore, it is essential to amend the constitution with a view to make right to health a fundamental right of the citizenshence this billnew delhi;nishikant dubeyjanuary 23, 2018 financial memorandumclause 2 of the bill provides for making the right to health protection a fundamental right it also provides that the state shall earmark not less than eight per cent of its annual budget on healthcare the bill, if enacted, would involve expenditure both recurring and non-recurring from the consolidated fund of india however, it is not possible to assess the actual financial expenditure likely to be incurred at this stage lok  sabha———— a billfurther to amend the constitution of india————(shri nishikant dubey, mp)mgipmrnd—2016ls(s3)—06-11-2018