Guwahati: The Personal Data Protection Bill, 2019 has been withdrawn from the Lok Sabha on Wednesday by Union Minister of Information and Technology Ashwini Vaishnaw.
The adjustment materialised in response to the joint parliamentary committee’s 81 changes.
Vaishnaw in a statement said, “The Personal Data Protection Bill, 2019 was deliberated in great detail by the Joint Committee of Parliament. 81 amendments were proposed and 12 recommendations were made towards comprehensive legal framework on digital ecosystem. Considering the report of the JCP, a comprehensive legal framework is being worked upon. Hence, in the circumstances, it is proposed to withdraw ‘The Personal Data Protection Bill, 2019’ and present a new bill that fits into the comprehensive legal framework.”
Massive rallies against the bill were organised by the Trinamool Congress and the Opposition Congress, who both claimed that the data privacy law infringed citizens’ fundamental rights.
They said that the law would grant the government the authority to access people’s personal information while disguising it as a matter of national security or for other purposes.
Additionally, the law has received criticism from the civic community.
In 2017, the Supreme Court declared the Right to Privacy to be a basic constitutional right. The court ordered the centre to create a national data protection framework in light of this.
As a result, on December 11, 2019, the Personal Data Protection Bill was introduced in the legislature.