17. Constitution of National Assisted Reproductive Technology and Surrogacy Board.— (1)
The Central Government shall, by notification, constitute a Board to be known as the National
Assisted Reproductive Technology and Surrogacy Board to exercise the powers and perform the
functions conferred on the Board under this Act.
(2) The Board shall consist of—
(a) the Minister in-charge of the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, the Chairperson,
ex officio;
(b) the Secretary to the Government of India in-charge of the Department dealing with the
surrogacy matter, Vice-Chairperson, ex officio;
(c) three women Members of Parliament, of whom two shall be elected by the House of the
People and one by the Council of States, Members, ex officio;
(d) three Members of the Ministries of the Central Government in-charge of Women and Child
Development, Legislative Department in the Ministry of Law and Justice and the Ministry of
Home Affairs, not below the rank of Joint Secretary, Members, ex officio;
(e) the Director General of Health Services of the Central Government, Member, ex officio;
(f) ten expert Members to be appointed by the Central Government in such manner as may be
prescribed and two each from amongst—
(i) eminent medical geneticists or embryologists;
(ii) eminent gynaecologists and obstetricians;
(iii) eminent social scientists;
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(iv) representatives of women welfare organisations; and
(v) representatives from civil society working on women's health and child issues,
possessing such qualifications and experience as may be prescribed;
(g) four Chairpersons of the State Boards to be nominated by the Central Government by
rotation to represent the States and the Union territories, two in the alphabetical order and two in
the reverse alphabetical order, Member, ex officio; and
(h) an officer, not below the rank of a Joint Secretary to the Central Government, in-charge of
Surrogacy Division in the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, who shall be the MemberSecretary, ex officio.
18. Term of office of Members.— (1) The term of office of a Member, other than an ex officio
Member, shall be—
(a) in case of election under clause (c) of sub-section (2) of section 17, three years:
Provided that the term of such Member shall come to an end as soon as the Member becomes a
Minister or Minister of State or Deputy Minister, or the Speaker or the Deputy Speaker of the
House of the People, or the Deputy Chairman of the Council of States or ceases to be a Member of
the House from which she was elected; and
(b) in case of appointment under clause (f) of sub-section (2) of section 17, three years:
Provided that the person to be appointed as Member under this clause shall be of such age as
may be prescribed.
(2) Any vacancy occurring in the office whether by reason of his death, resignation or inability to
discharge his functions owing to illness or other incapacity, shall be filled by the Central Government
by making a fresh appointment within a period of one month from the date on which such vacancy
occurs and the Member so appointed shall hold office for the remainder of the term of office of the
person in whose place he is so appointed.
(3) The Vice-Chairperson shall perform such functions as may be assigned to him by the
Chairperson from time to time.
19. Meetings of Board.— (1) The Board shall meet at such places and times and shall observe
such rules of procedure in regard to the transaction of business at its meetings (including the quorum
at its meetings) as may be determined by the regulations:
Provided that the Board shall meet at least once in six months.
(2) The Chairperson shall preside at the meeting of the Board and if for any reason the Chairperson
is unable to attend the meeting of the Board, the Vice-Chairperson shall preside at the meetings of the
Board.
(3) All questions which come up before any meeting of the Board shall be decided by a majority of
the votes of the members present and voting, and in the event of an equality of votes, the Chairperson,
or in his absence, the Vice-Chairperson shall have a second or casting vote.
(4) The Members, other than ex officio Members, shall receive only compensatory travelling
expenses for attending the meetings of the Board.
20. Vacancies, etc., not to invalidate proceedings of Board.— No act or proceeding of the Board
shall be invalid merely by reason of—
(a) any vacancy in, or any defect in the constitution of, the Board; or
(b) any defect in the appointment of a person acting as a Member of the Board; or
(c) any irregularity in the procedure of the Board not affecting the merits of the case.
21. Disqualifications for appointment as Member.— (1) A person shall be disqualified for
being appointed and continued as a Member if, he—
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(a) has been adjudged as an insolvent; or
(b) has been convicted of an offence, which in the opinion of the Central Government, involves
moral turpitude; or
(c) has become physically or mentally incapable of acting as a Member; or
(d) has acquired such financial or other interest, as is likely to affect prejudicially his functions
as a Member; or
(e) has so abused his position, as to render his continuance in office prejudicial to the public
interest; or
(f) is a practicing member or an office-bearer of any association representing surrogacy clinics,
having financial or other interest likely to affect prejudicially, his function as a Member; or
(g) is an office-bearer, heading or representing, any of the professional bodies having
commercial interest in surrogacy or infertility.
(2) The Members referred to in clause (f) of section 17 shall not be removed from their office
except by an order of the Central Government on the ground of their proved misbehaviour or
incapacity after the Central Government, has, on an inquiry, held in accordance with the procedure
prescribed in this behalf by the Central Government, come to the conclusion that the Member ought
on any such ground to be removed.
(3) The Central Government may suspend any Member against whom an inquiry under sub-section
(2) is being initiated or pending until the Central Government has passed an order on receipt of the
report of the inquiry.
22. Temporary association of persons with Board for particular purposes.— (1) The Board
may associate with itself, in such manner and for such purposes as may be determined by the
regulations, any person whose assistance or advice it may desire in carrying out any of the provisions
of this Act.
(2) A person associated with the Board under sub-section (1) shall have a right to take part in the
discussions relevant to that purpose, but shall not have a right to vote at a meeting of the Board and
shall not be a Member for any other purpose.
23. Authentication of orders and other instruments of Board.—All orders and decisions of the
Board shall be authenticated by the signature of the Chairperson and all other instruments issued by
the Board shall be authenticated by the signature of the Member-Secretary of the Board.
24. Eligibility of Member for re-appointment.— Subject to other terms and conditions of
service as may be prescribed, any person ceasing to be a Member shall be eligible for re-appointment
as such Member:
Provided that no Member other than an ex officio Member shall be appointed for more than two
consecutive terms.
25. Functions of Board.— The Board shall discharge the following functions, namely: —
(a) to advise the Central Government on policy matters relating to surrogacy;
(b) to review and monitor the implementation of the Act, and the rules and regulations made
thereunder and recommend to the Central Government, changes therein;
(c) to lay down the code of conduct to be observed by persons working at surrogacy clinics;
(d) to set the minimum standards of physical infrastructure, laboratory and diagnostic
equipment and expert manpower to be employed by the surrogacy clinics;
(e) to oversee the performance of various bodies constituted under the Act and take appropriate
steps to ensure their effective performance;
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(f) to supervise the functioning of State Assisted Reproductive Technology and Surrogacy
Boards; and
(g) such other functions as may be prescribed.
26. Constitution of State Assisted Reproductive Technology and Surrogacy Board.— Each
State and Union territory having Legislature shall constitute a Board to be known as the State Assisted
Reproductive Technology and Surrogacy Board or the Union territory Assisted Reproductive
Technology and Surrogacy Board, as the case may be, which shall discharge the following functions,
namely:—
(i) to review the activities of the appropriate authorities functioning in the State or Union
territory and recommend appropriate action against them;
(ii) to monitor the implementation of the provisions of the Act, and the rules and regulations
made thereunder and make suitable recommendations relating thereto, to the Board;
(iii) to send such consolidated reports as may be prescribed, in respect of the various activities
undertaken in the State under the Act, to the Board and the Central Government; and
(iv) such other functions as may be prescribed.
27. Composition of State Board.— The State Board shall consist of.—
(a) the Minister in-charge of Health and Family Welfare in the State, Chairperson, ex officio;
(b) the Secretary in-charge of the Department of Health and Family Welfare, Vice-Chairperson,
ex officio;
(c) Secretaries or Commissioners in-charge of the Departments of Women and Child
Development, Social Welfare, Law and Justice and Home Affairs or their nominees, members, ex
officio;
(d) Director-General of Health and Family Welfare of the State Government, member, ex
officio;
(e) three women members of the State Legislative Assembly or Union territory Legislative
Council, members, ex officio;
(f) ten expert members to be appointed by the State Government in such manner as may be
prescribed, two each from amongst—
(i) eminent medical geneticists or embryologists;
(ii) eminent gynaecologists and obstetricians;
(iii) eminent social scientists;
(iv) representatives of women welfare organisations; and
(v) representatives from civil society working on women's health and child issues,
possessing such qualifications and experiences as may be prescribed;
(g) an officer not below the rank of Joint Secretary to the State Government in-charge of
Family Welfare, who shall be the Member-Secretary, ex officio.
28 . Term of office of members.— (1) The term of office of a member, other than an ex officio
member, shall be.—
(a) in case of nomination under clause (e) of section 27, three years:
Provided that the term of such member shall come to an end as soon as the member becomes a
Minister or Minister of State or Deputy Minister, or the Speaker or the Deputy Speaker of the
Legislative Assembly, or the Deputy Chairman of the Legislative Council or ceases to be a
member of the House from which she was elected; and
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(b) in case of appointment under clause (f) of section 27, three years:
Provided that the person to be appointed as member under this clause shall be of such age, as
may be prescribed.
(2) Any vacancy occurring in the office whether by reason of his death, resignation or inability to
discharge his functions owing to illness or other incapacity, shall be filled within a period of one
month from the date on which such vacancy occurs by the State Government by making a fresh
appointment and the member so appointed shall hold office for the remainder of the term of office of
the person in whose place he is so appointed.
(3) The Vice-Chairperson shall perform such functions as may be assigned to him by the
Chairperson from time to time.
29. Meetings of State Board.—(1) The State Board shall meet at such places and times and shall
observe such rules of procedure in regard to the transaction of business at its meetings (including the
quorum at its meetings) as may be specified by the regulations:
Provided that the State Board shall meet at least once in four months.
(2) The Chairperson shall preside at the meetings of the Board and if for any reason the Chairman
is unable to attend the meeting of the State Board, the Vice-Chairperson shall preside at the meetings
of the State Board.
(3) All questions which come up before any meeting of the State Board shall be decided by a
majority of the votes of the members present and voting, and in the event of an equality of votes, the
Chairperson, or in his absence, the Vice-Chairperson shall have a second or casting vote.
(4) The members, other than ex officio members, shall receive only compensatory travelling
expenses for attending the meetings of the State Board.
30. Vacancies, etc., not to invalidate proceedings of State Board.— No act or proceeding of the
State Board shall be invalid merely by reason of—
(a) any vacancy in, or any defect in the constitution of, the State Board; or
(b) any defect in the appointment of a person acting as a member of the State Board; or
(c) any irregularity in the procedure of the State Board not affecting the merits of the case.
31. Disqualifications for appointment as member.—(1) A person shall be disqualified for being
appointed and continued as a member if, he —
(a) has been adjudged as an insolvent; or
(b) has been convicted of an offence, which in the opinion of the State Government, involves
moral turpitude; or
(c) has become physically or mentally incapable of acting as a member; or
(d) has acquired such financial or other interest, as is likely to affect prejudicially his functions
as a member; or
(e) has so abused his position, as to render his continuance in office prejudicial to the public
interest; or
(f) is a practicing member or an office-bearer of any association representing surrogacy clinics,
having financial or other interest likely to affect prejudicially, his functions as a member; or
(g) is an office-bearer, heading or representing, any of the professional bodies having
commercial interest in surrogacy or infertility.
(2) The members referred to in clause (f) of section 27 shall not be removed from their office
except by an order of the State Government on the ground of their proved misbehaviour or incapacity
after the State Government, has, on an inquiry, held in accordance with the procedure prescribed in
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this behalf by the State Government, come to the conclusion that the member ought on any such
ground to be removed.
(3) The State Government may suspend any member against whom an inquiry under sub-section
(2) is being initiated or pending until the State Government has passed an order on receipt of the
report of the inquiry.
32. Temporary association of persons with State Board for particular purposes.— (1) The
State Board may associate with itself, in such manner and for such purposes as may be determined by
the regulations, any person whose assistance or advice it may desire in carrying out any of the
provisions of this Act.
(2) A person associated with it by the State Board under sub-section (1) shall have a right to take
part in the discussions relevant to that purpose, but shall not have a right to vote at a meeting of the
State Board and shall not be a member for any other purpose.
33 . Authentication of orders and other instruments of State Board.—All orders and decisions
of the State Board shall be authenticated by the signature of the Chairperson and all other instruments
issued by the State Board shall be authenticated by the signature of the Member-Secretary of the State
Board.
34. Eligibility of member for re-appointment.— Subject to the other terms and conditions of
service as may be prescribed, any person ceasing to be a member shall be eligible for re-appointment
as such member:
Provided that no member other than an ex officio member shall be appointed for more than two
consecutive terms.