Underlining the effort to protect the environment and human health from infectious bio-medical waste, Union Minister for Environment, Forest and Climate Change, Dr. Harsh Vardhan has said that Bio-Medical Waste Management Rules, 2016 Rules have been amended to improve compliance and strengthen the implementation of environmentally sound management of biomedical waste in India. Dr. Harsh Vardhan pointed out that the amended rules stipulate that generators of bio-medical waste such as hospitals, nursing homes, clinics, and dispensaries etc will not use chlorinated plastic bags and gloves beyond March 27, 2019 in medical applications to save the environment. The Minister added that Blood bags have been exempted for phase-out, as per the amended BMW rules, 2018.