BackParliamentary panel holds final deliberations over data Bill
Non-NDA members failed to attend several meetings of the panel in the wake of the virus outbreak
PremiumThere is growing support for the views of the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) on the Personal Data Protection Bill within the joint parliamentary committee (JPC), which is in the final leg of hectic deliberations to firm up the clauses of the legislation, partly because of the lack of coordination among Opposition parties.
The 30-member JPC is unanimously in favour of more than 50 of the 98 clauses, though the members of the panel from the Congress and the Trinamool Congress have opposed certain recommendations.
The Bharatiya Janata Party’s stand on the bill has been supported by members of the Samajwadi Party, the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam, the Biju Janata Dal, and the Bahujan Samaj Party.
The bill, which was introduced in the Lok Sabha last December, seeks to protect the privacy of individuals relating to their personal data. It was sent to the JPC amid concerns from lawmakers over the right to privacy of citizens, including concerns over snooping.
“We have completed discussion on more than 50 of the 98 clauses and there has been no opposition. All the clauses have been so far unanimously adopted and have been sent for drafting. None of the members of the Opposition parties who have been attending these meetings have moved any amendment so far," said a member of the JPC on the condition of unanimity.
The JPC is expected to submit its recommendations to Parliament before the next session. A section of committee members demanded further deliberations on key aspects of the bill with representatives of different sectors. The committee has thus invited CYBLE, Mastercard India Services, iSPRIT Foundation, PayPal Payments, and Visa Consolidated Supported Services to participate in the discussion at the next meetings.
“There was a suggestion on inviting more representatives before the committee and also about the companies that should be invited. There would be more representation while we are debating the contours of the bill," said another person in the know, also seeking anonymity.
The key concerns raised by the Congress and the Trinamool Congress include data localization, the Union government’s powers to access data from data fiduciaries to provide either non-personal data or anonymised personal data for better targeting of schemes, the need for a selection committee to set up a data protection authority, and whether it should have representations both from the government and the industry.
Other aspects on which the Opposition parties have raised concerns are related to transfer of sensitive personal data and critical personal data outside the country.
“For a bill that was unanimously opposed by key Opposition parties in both the Houses of Parliament, the lack of coordination among the opposition and non-NDA members in the committee is telling. Concerns of individual members are being raised, but it is limited to that. Up until now, no pressure is being put on the ruling party to get our key demands accepted," a third person said seeking anonymity.
Non-NDA members did not attend several meetings of the panel, particularly after the coronavirus outbreak, according to people aware of the development.
“With the exception of some Congress members who regularly attended the proceedings and raised questions, the meetings did not see high attendance from non-NDA members. One reason could be precautions around covid-19 but almost all committees have been holding physical meetings for months now," he said.
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