The lawmakers expressed concern that this change could undermine transparency and accountability, hindering the ability of citizens, journalists, and activists to expose corruption and scrutinize government actions.
Over 120 Members of Parliament from the Opposition INDIA bloc have urged the Centre to repeal Section 44(3) of the Digital Personal Data Protection (DPDP) Act, 2023, warning that it threatens to weaken the public바카라s right to access crucial information under the Right to Information (RTI) Act.
In a petition made public on Thursday, the MPs appealed to Union Minister for Electronics and Information Technology, Ashwini Vaishnaw, arguing that the section in question effectively amends Section 8(1)(j) of the RTI Act, 2005 by broadly exempting personal information from disclosure.
The lawmakers expressed concern that this change could undermine transparency and accountability, hindering the ability of citizens, journalists, and activists to expose corruption and scrutinize government actions바카라one of the core purposes of the RTI Act.
Responding to the concerns on social media platform X, Minister Vaishnaw clarified that personal details already mandated for public disclosure under existing laws will still be accessible through the RTI Act, even after the DPDP Act comes into effect.
Vaishnaw바카라s clarification was in response to a post on X on Thursday by Congress바카라 Communications Chief Jairam Ramesh, where he shared a letter that he had sent to the Union minister on March 23. In the letter, Ramesh urged the minister 바카라to pause, review and repeal바카라 Section 44 (3) of the DPDP Act.
바카라Any personal information that is subject to disclosure under legal obligations under various laws governing our public representatives and welfare programmes, etc., will continue to be disclosed under the RTI Act. In fact, this (DPDP) amendment will not restrict disclosure of personal information, rather it aims to strengthen the privacy rights of the individuals and prevent the potential misuse of the law," Vaishnaw said.
The minister cited Section 3 of the DPDP Act to explain the government's stance.
According to the said section, 바카라the provisions of the Act will not apply on personal data processed by an individual for any personal or domestic purpose, and personal data that is made publicly available by the individual himself or any other person who is under an obligation under any law for the time being in force in India to make such personal data publicly available바카라.