For the first time in the history of Indian legislation, the pronouns “She” and “Her” are used to refer to individuals of all genders.
IT Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw tweeted the words from the draft Digital Personal Data Protection Bill, 2022, asking for feedback on the proposed law that would broadly recognise a person’s right to protect personal data as well as the necessity of processing personal data for lawful purposes.
“We have attempted in the philosophy of women’s empowerment that Prime Minister Narendra Modi ji’s government works to use the words she and her in the entire bill, instead of he, him and his. So this is an innovative thing which has been attempted in the bill,” IT Minister Vaishnaw said.
One of the interpretations in the proposed legislation read, “..the pronouns “her” and “she” have been used for an individual, irrespective of gender.”
This initiative is in line with Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s “Beti Bachao, Beti Padhao” campaign, which aims to empower girls and encourage families to educate and raise them well.
“The Digital Personal Data Protection Bill is a legislation that frames out the rights and duties of the citizen (Digital Nagrik) on one hand and the obligations to use collected data lawfully of the Data Fiduciary on the other hand,” the explanatory note read.
The draft Digital Personal Data Protection Bill calls for fines of up to Rs 500 crore for non-compliance and the establishment of a regulator. It has done away with regulating the use of non-personal data by focusing solely on personal data.
Ashwini Vaishnaw, Union Minister for Railways, Communications, Electronics and Information Technology, shared a link to the draft bill’s PDF on Friday, seeking public feedback.
The draft bill will go through extensive consultations before being introduced in Parliament during the next Budget Session.
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