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Business News/ Politics / Policy/  Govt firmly in support of Net neutrality: Ravi Shankar Prasad
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Govt firmly in support of Net neutrality: Ravi Shankar Prasad

The govt would ensure that the Internet remained accessible to all citizens without discrimination, said Ravi Shankar Prasad

A file photo of Union minister of communications and information technology Ravi Shankar Prasad. Photo: Ramesh Pathania/Mint Premium
A file photo of Union minister of communications and information technology Ravi Shankar Prasad. Photo: Ramesh Pathania/Mint

New Delhi: A fortnight after the government and the opposition clashed over the issue in the lower house, Union minister of communications and information technology Ravi Shankar Prasad assured the Rajya Sabha on Tuesday that the government was committed to the fundamental principle of Net neutrality. The government would ensure that the Internet remained accessible to all citizens of the country without discrimination, he said.

“As long as this government is in power, Net neutrality will be in existence," he said. The minister was replying to a calling attention motion brought by Derek O’Brien of the All India Trinamool Congress (AITC) in the Rajya Sabha. A number of questions relating to level playing fields and the independence of the telecom regulator were raised during the debate. The upper house was largely on the same page on the issue.

A total of 16 members of Parliament raised issues and questions, to which Prasad responded at the end, expressing his support for Net neutrality.

“Just as India values its constitutional right of freedom of speech and expression, it also values the fact that the Internet is open. One must recognise that there are nuances to the issue. If there were not, then it would not have become an issue of debate and litigation across the world," Prasad said.

He further quoted a Webindex report that mentions that around 74% countries in the world have clear regulation on Net neutrality. “On the basis of Net neutrality rules, nations can be divided into three categories." Countries having no specific measures include Australia, South Korea and New Zealand; those having light-handed measures include the European Commission, the UK and Japan; and countries with specific measures include US, Brazil and Netherlands, he explained.

Prasad assured the House that the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai) did not have the last word in the new policy and that the government had the power to overturn the regulator’s recommendations if they did not adhere to the stated public policy, under the Trai Act. The government has also mandated a technical committee within the Department of Telecommunications to ensure there is adequate consultation on the issue. The committee is expected to submit its report later this month.

“Whatever be the (Trai) recommendations, the decision will be taken by the government, the Cabinet and will be consistent with the aspirations of the people," he said.

Here are some key statements that came up during the debate. The questions ranged from the accountability and independence of Trai to the issue of whether the security and privacy of citizens would be ensured in the light of Trai publishing the email addresses of all 1 million respondents to the consultation process on the issue.

1) The first to respond to Prasad’s statement was O’Brien, who asked whether there would be amendments to the IT Act. He also accused Trai of batting for the telecom companies. “The Trai consultation paper reads like it has been written by a major telecom company. I will not name who," said O’Brien. The former quiz master also brought attention to Trai making public the email addresses of the 1 million respondents to the ongoing consultation process, affecting their privacy.

2) Kanimozhi, DMK member from Tamil Nadu and daughter of DMK supremo M. Karunanidhi, proposed that the government should look into making Internet access a civic right as expressed by party leader M.K. Stalin. She also asked what steps would the government take to address the concerns of smaller companies. Kanimozhi also brought to notice the fact that the national outrage on Net neutrality showed that the youth of the country were concerned about social issues.

3) A. Navaneethakrishnan, AIADMK MP from Tamil Nadu, demanded that Net neutrality be treated as a part of article 21 of the Constitution, which guarantees the right to life. “The AIADMK and Amma (J. Jayalalithaa) firmly support Net neutrality in India," he said.

4) BJP MP from Uttarakhand Tarun Vijay equated the Net neutrality issue to India’s fight for freedom from the British. “Don’t let the crores of Indian Internet users become slaves to the telecom companies," he said. Vijay further accused the telecom companies of being Shylocks and sharks. “In our country, the Internet can be used to make everything easier. There is nothing that cannot be done better without the Internet. The telecom companies want to use this to enslave the people of the country," he said. “So what if only 74% of the world has legislation on Net neutrality. This is an opportunity for us to lead the world," Vijay added.

5) Rajeev Gowda, Congress MP from Karnataka, gave the example of a farmer in Karnataka who had suggested that crop insurance claims can be processed far more efficiently using Google Maps. He further explained that the telecom companies were licensed to carry traffic and should not be allowed to regulate it.

“Today, newer apps and technologies will emerge that will help, in the words of Star Trek, people to ‘boldly go where no man has ever gone before’. We must not find any way to slow down this extraordinary unleashing of the power of human ingenuity," Gowda said. He also questioned the communication minister on the independence of Trai, if the government could, at any time, overrule the regulator on the grounds of public policy.

6) Ritabrata Banerjee of the CPI quoted Karl Marx, and said the Internet should be treated as a utility. He said the telcos were seeing as much as 100% growth in data revenue and yet were asking to be paid twice for the same service—once by consumers and then again by the companies.

7) Echoing the level-playing field argument, Vivek Gupta of the AITC asked how the government would balance its stake in the issue since a large amount of federal revenue comes from sharing agreements with the telcos. More revenue for telcos would mean more revenue for the government.

8) Rajeev Chandrasekhar, independent MP from Karnataka, brought to the fore the fact that consumers would oppose any move to convert the Internet into islands based on commercial contracts. He also said that consumer protection in India was very weak and the government must ensure that the regulations on Net neutrality kept in mind the rights of the consumer.

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Published: 06 May 2015, 12:46 PM IST
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