New Delhi : The Narendra Modi government plans to push 21 new pieces of legislation, including the data protection bill and a bill to replace a controversial ordinance on Delhi services, in the monsoon session of Parliament that starts from July 20, according to a Lok Sabha Secretariat circular .
The Digital Personal Data Protection Bill 2023 aims to provide for “the processing of digital personal data in a manner that recognises both the right of individuals to protect their personal data and the need to process personal data for lawful purposes.”
“The bill employs plain and simple language to facilitate ease of understanding. The bill aims to establish the comprehensive legal framework governing digital personal data protection in India,” said a government circular.
The personal data protection comes after the previous iteration of the bill was shelved by the government last year.
The Union government also plans to bring the Government of National Capital Territory of Delhi (Amendment) Bill, 2023, to replace an ordinance issued by the Centre earlier this year giving itself control over the bureaucracy in Delhi. The ordinance effectively rolled back a Constitution Bench judgment of the Supreme Court (SC) that handed over control of the bureaucracy in the Capital to the elected government, excluding those connected to police, public order and land.
“The bill is being brought as a result of the pronouncement of the order of the Constitution Bench of the Supreme Court in which the legislative and executive power over “services” shall vest with the GNCTD. The conclusions drawn in Constitution Bench pronouncement pose certain challenges to the smooth administration of GNCTD which need to be addressed through appropriate legal interventions,” the government said in a circular.
The Opposition is expected to protest and vote against this bill but the Congress has not yet made its stand on the issue clear in public.
The government will also try to clear the Biological Diversity (Amendment) Bill, the Jan Vishwas (Amendment of Provisions) Bill and The Multi-State Cooperative Societies (Amendment) Bill.
The other new bills include The Postal Services Bill, 2023 to stipulate fundamental matters on postal services, facilitate the development of the postal sector, protect the rights and interests of users, and promote the socio-economic development of the country through post offices. The National Cooperative University Bill, 2023 will be brought to establish the institution, and The Ancient Monuments and Archaeological Sites and Remains (Amendment) Bill will rationalise the prohibited area and other amendments.
A bill to repeal the International Monetary Fund and Bank Act, 1945, another one to repeal the provisional collection of taxes, a bill to set up the national dental commission and the national nursing and midwifery commission will also be brought.
The Drugs, Medical Devices and Cosmetics Bill, 2023, The Registration of Births and Deaths (Amendment) Bill, 2023 to accommodate “progressive changes in the society during the last five decades, making registration process people friendly, and to update other databases at national and state level using database of registered births and deaths,” were also listed for introduction.
The government also plans to bring a number of bills to amend existing reservation laws in Jammu and Kashmir to change the nomenclature of weak and under-privileged classes to Other Backward Classes, and include the Valmiki community in the list of scheduled castes of the Union Territory. The Cinematograph (Amendment) Bill to make the process of sanctioning of films for exhibition more effective, the Mines and Mineral (Development and Regulation) Amendment Bill, 2023 for “introducing exploration licence and to delist some minerals from list of atomic minerals” are also likely to be tabled in the session.
