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The Department of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare has drafted the Pesticides Management Bill, 2026, aligned with the Jan Vishwas Act, to update the existing pesticide regulatory framework.
The draft Bill was circulated to Ministries/States on 30.12.2025 and placed in the public domain on 07.01.2026 for stakeholder comments (manufacturers, dealers, farmers, NGOs), including on data protection.
Modernise pesticide registration, sale and regulation, incorporating Jan Vishwas decriminalisation principles and data-protection provisions
Key: Draft circulated to States/Ministries (30.12.2025) and the public (07.01.2026); stakeholder consultation ongoing with manufacturers, dealers, farmers and NGOs
Current governing law for pesticide registration/regulation, which the new Bill is intended to update; its Registration Committee evaluates efficacy/safety before registration
Decriminalised 183 provisions across 42 Central Acts by replacing imprisonment with monetary penalties; the Pesticides Management Bill is being aligned with this approach
The Insecticides Act, 1968 predates modern data-protection norms and imposes criminal liability for many minor/technical regulatory lapses. Aligning a new Pesticides Management Bill with the Jan Vishwas Act's decriminalisation approach means replacing some of these criminal penalties with civil/monetary ones for non-fraudulent violations, while preserving strict provisions for genuinely unsafe or counterfeit pesticides
Simple Analogy: It's like updating an old traffic law so a minor paperwork mistake gets a fine instead of a court summons, while reckless driving is still treated just as seriously as before
GS Paper 3 > Agriculture > Input Regulation
Occasional — will recur once the Bill is tabled or passed
A 2023 Act decriminalising 183 minor regulatory provisions across 42 Central Acts to ease business compliance