An Inter-Ministerial Committee was constituted by the Department of Telecommunications to examine adoption of safety limits for exposure to radio frequency energy produced by mobile handsets i.e. Specific Absorption Rate (SAR) levels of exposure from a mobile hand-set. Inter-Ministerial Committee in its report has indicated that most of the laboratory studies were unable to find a direct link between exposure to radio frequency radiation and health. The scientific studies as yet have not been able to confirm a cause-and-effect relationship between radio frequency radiation and health. The effect of emission from mobile phone is not known yet with certainty.
(1) Telecom Commission has adopted International Commission on Non-ionizing Radiation Protection (ICNIRP) guidelines for mobile handsets imposing basic restrictions in terms of SAR (Specific Absorption Rate) value limiting to 2 W/Kg (averaged over 10g tissue) localized for head and trunk in the frequency range of 10 MHz to 10 GHz. Thereafter
i) Indigenous manufacturers of mobile handsets have been instructed to comply with ICNIRP guidelines and furnish self certificate.
ii) Mobile handsets manufacturers have also been instructed to indicate the level of radiation on the product itself and to clearly communicate the potential danger of mobile phone radiation and exposure.
(2) To regulate indigenous as well as imported mobile phones, Bureau of Indian Standard (BIS) has been requested to frame standards for mobile phones under BIS Act 1986.
(3) Inter-Ministerial Committee constituted by the Department of Telecommunications in its report has made the following recommendations:
(i) Adoption of mobile sets having low SAR value of 1.6 W/Kg averaged over a 6 minutes period and taken over a volume containing a mass of 1 gram of human tissue;
(ii) Mobile handsets manufactured and sold in India or Imported from other countries should be checked for compliance of SAR limit and no handsets of SAR value above the prescribed standard adopted in India should be manufactured or sold in the country;
(iii) Display SAR value information in the handset;
(iv) Information of SAR values of different mobile phones made available on manufacturer’s website and Government website; and
(v) The manufacturer’s mobile handset booklet should contain various Dos & Don’ts for safe use of cell phones.
The report of the Inter-Ministerial Committee has been placed on the Department of Telecommunications’ website calling for feedback from stakeholders. Thereafter, it will be examined for appropriate action.
The reply also stated the details of the mobile phone subscribers during past three years and current year which are as under:
Sl. No | Year (As on 31st March) | No. of Mobile Telephones ( in million) |
1. | 2007-08 | 261.08 |
2. | 2008-09 | 391.76 |
3. | 2009-10 | 584.32 |
4. | 2010-11 (upto December 2010) | 752.20 |
This information was given by the Minister of State for Communications & Information Technology, Shri Sachin Pilot
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