Parliamentary Standing Committee Approved Revised Draft of Data Protection Law: IT Minister

Union Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw on Thursday said the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Communications and Information Technology has given a “thumbs up” for the revised draft of the data protection law.

Vaishnaw, a bureaucrat turned politician who presently handles the IT portfolio, said an advanced copy of the revised bill on data protection was shared with the committee.

“I would like to share some good news that the Parliamentary Standing Committee on IT and Communications… before this bill is taken to the Parliament, they have given a big thumbs up,” Vaishnaw said while speaking at the annual NTLF here.

In 2021, the government withdrew an earlier version of the same bill after a slew of changes suggested by a Joint Parliamentary Committee and promised to come up with a new bill, which it did late last year.

Debjani Ghosh, the president of the IT industry lobby Nasscom, said the bill needs to be passed at the earliest and hoped that it sails through this year itself.

Vaishnaw said when it comes to tech regulations, the world is at a complex moment where every country is looking at the issue in a different way.

India’s endevaour will be to keep her aspirations in mind while taking a call on the subject and navigate the environment accordingly, he said, adding that no country should copy the other while formulating its laws.

Vaishnaw, who had attended the World Economic Forum at Davos in January, said there is an increased trust in India at the global stage.

He said Indian companies will have to be careful and not over-promise as they integrate into the global supply chain with their products and services.

“Promise what we can do, never over-promise,” the minister told delegates at the summit, asking industry to focus on innovation and people.