Five new ministers from joint committee of parliament on data protection bill

Five members of the Joint Committee on the Personal Data Protection Bill, including its chairperson Meenakashi Lekhi, were among those inducted into the Union Council of Ministers on Wednesday.

Besides Lekhi, four others who have been made ministers are Lok Sabha member Ajay Bhatt and Rajya Sabha members Rajeev Chandrasekhar, Bhupender Yadav and Ashwini Vaishnaw.

The committee, formed in December 2019, has an effective strength of 18 members — 19 from Lok Sabha and nine from Rajya Sabha.

The panel has held several meetings and summoned representatives of Twitter, Facebook, Google and e-commerce major Amazon.

The draft data protection bill proposes to put restrictions on the use of personal information of people without their explicit consent. It aims to safeguard personal information, define obligations of data processors, rights of individuals and moots penalty for violations.

In March this year, the committee was given extension till the upcoming monsoon session to submit its report. Prime Minister Narendra Modi carried out a major overhaul of his Council of Ministers on Wednesday with 15 Cabinet ministers and 28 Ministers of State, comprising new faces and those elevated, being sworn in. PTI