Oppn MPs walk out of parl panel meet over personal data bill
Seven Opposition members of Parliament (MPs), including Mahua Moitra of the Trinamool Congress, Karti Chidambaram of Congress, and John Brittas of the Communist Party of India (Marxist), walked out of a meeting of the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Information Technology and Communications today after their demand to see a copy of the Digital Personal Data Protection Bill (DPDP Bill) before a report on it was adopted was not met.
The panel adopted the 40-page report despite the walkout.
The Opposition lawmakers have now submitted a two-page dissent note on the existing draft and their concerns over the bill.
The proposed legislation seeks to empower people with the right to know what data has been collected, stored and shared, but many in the Opposition as well as cybersecurity and other experts say the Bill gives the government excessive power in framing rules and protocols outside of the legislation. The bill gives wide-ranging exemptions to the government and its agencies in the name of security.
The independence of the regulator too has been of some debate.
The bill is likely to be introduced in the ongoing monsoon session of Parliament.
