Lok Sabha referred the Personal Data Protection Bill to the Joint Committee of the parliament on Wednesday. The decision was taken after the House adopted a motion moved by Electronics and Information Technology Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad. The Bill aims to create a framework for the protection of the individual in relation to personal data and establish a Data Protection Authority of India.
As per the official records, Ravi Shankar Prasad explained the constitution of the “joint committee of the House“. He informed that the proposed committee will be having 20 members from the Lok Sabha and 10 members from the Rajya Sabha. The committee has been tasked to submit its report on the first day of the last week of the next budget session.
The 20 members from the Lok Sabha are- Meenakshi Lekhi, PP Chaudhary, SS Ahluwalia, Tejasvi Surya, Ajay Bhatt, Col Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore, Sanjay Jaiswal, Uday Pratap Singh, Kirit Premjibhai Solanki, Arvind Dharampuri, Heena Gavit, Rajeev Ranjan Singh, Gaurav Gogoi, Jothimani, Saugata Roy, Kanimozhi, PV Midhun Reddy, Shrikant Eknath Shinde, Bhartruhari Mahtab and Ritesh Pandey. Speaking on the composition of the members, senior leader of the Congress party, Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury said that only two members of their party were given a seat on the panel and he also asked to increase the party’s representation.
Expressing concern over the hectic schedule of Sugata Roy, Trinamool Congress leader Sudip Bandyopadhyay said that they wanted to replace Sugata Roy with Mahua Moitra as MP Sugata Roy is loaded with lots of works and the party cannot spare him. However, Ravi Shankar Prasad requested Bandyopadhyay to let Roy remain in the committee because of his vast experience in the field. Responding to this, Bandyopadhyay said, “If you ask me, he (Roy) is the best person in parliament. You can’t change my party’s decision,”. He further said that the name will be given by the party.
Previously, the opposition members had demanded to send the bill to a Standing Committee on Information Technology which is headed by Congress member Shashi Tharoor.