7-Dec-2022: To evaluate the implementation of NFSA and TPDS operations in the country, Centre released first State Ranking Index

The Union Minister of State for Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution, Ms. Sadhvi Niranjan Jyoti in a written reply to a question in Lok Sabha today shared that to evaluate the implementation of the National Food Security Act, 2013 (NFSA) and Targeted Public Distribution System (TPDS) operations across the states and Union Territories, the Government has released first ever State Ranking Index for the NFSA on 5th of July, 2022.

The Index rests upon three pillars that consider various facets of food security and nutrition. Each pillar has parameters and sub-parameters that support this evaluation. The first pillar measures coverage of NFSA, rightful targeting, and implementation of all provisions under NFSA. The second pillar analyses the delivery platform while considering the allocation of food grains, their movement, and last-mile delivery to Fair Price Shops. The third pillar focuses on nutrition initiatives of the department.

Rajasthan has got 18th Rank in the Index with score of 0.694.

Odisha has got the first rank in the State Ranking Index with the score of 0.836.

The State Ranking Index aims to create an environment of competition, cooperation, and learning among states, promote transparency, and publish verified data in the public domain for research and analysis. At present, no proposal to implement the food and nutrition mode of top-ranked States at the national level is under consideration of the Government. States/UT Governments are free to adopt best practices from better performing States/UTs under the overall architecture of NFSA.

5-Jul-2022: Odisha, UP, AP emerge as top three states among General Category States in the 1st ‘State Ranking Index for NFSA

Odisha has been adjudged the top ranked State followed by Uttar Pradesh at the 2nd spot and Andhra Pradesh at third amongst the General Category States in ‘State Ranking Index for NFSA’. Among the Special Category states/UTs, Tripura stood first followed by Himachal Pradesh and Sikkim respectively. Further, among the 3 UTs where Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT)- Cash is operational, Dadra and Nagar Haveli & Daman and Diu is the top ranked UT.

Union Minister of Consumer Affairs, Food & Public Distribution, Textiles and Commerce and Industry, Shri Piyush Goyal released the 1st edition of ‘State Ranking Index for NFSA’ during the conference of Food Ministers of States/UTs on ‘Food Nutrition and Security in India’ organized by Department of Food and Public Distribution here today. Ms. Sadhvi Niranjan Jyoti, Minister of State for Consumer Affairs, Food & Public Distribution and Rural Development along with Secretary DFPD, Shri Sudhanshu Pandey along with Food Ministers and senior officials of 8 states were present at the daylong conference.

This “State ranking Index for NFSA” attempts to document the status and progress of implementation of NFSA and various reform initiatives across the country, post consultation with states. It highlights the reforms undertaken by States and UTs and create a cross-learning environment and scale-up reform measures by all states and union territories. The present Index is largely focused on NFSA Distribution and will include procurement, PMGKAY Distribution in future. The Index for ranking the states and UTs is built on three key pillars which covers the end-to-end implementation of NFSA through TPDS. These pillars are: i) NFSA— Coverage, targeting and provisions of the Act, ii) Delivery platform, and iii) Nutrition initiatives. The detailed list of the States is at Annexure-I.

The National Food Security Act (NFSA) was enacted on July 5, 2013 and in order to celebrate the day, the conference was organized to deliberate and discuss nutritional security, food security, best practices followed in Public Distribution System, crop diversification, reforms in PDS and storage sector.

Speaking on the occasion, Shri Goyal said that India is now 100% connected under One Nation One Ration Card (ONORC). He complemented Hon’ble PM Shri Narendra Modi for visualizing this pathbreaking initiative and all those associated with it. He said that 45 crore transitions have taken so far providing the beneficiaries the freedom to collect ration from any State/UT in the country. He said that during COVID, ONORC supported migrants.

Shri Goyal said that going forward, the system of digitized, Aadhaar linked Public Distribution will be used to issue Ayushman Bharat Card. He mentioned that Uttar Pradesh is using the system to issue Ayushman Bharat card. He urged other states to consider this system to provide nutritional security as well as health security. He said that immunization of migrant kids can also be linked with the system to ensure medical facility to them.

Talking about the food subsidy to states, Shri Goyal announced that the deadline to submit claims of pending dues till the year 2019-20 is August 15, 2022. He reiterated that no dues will be entertained after the deadline. He added that the pending bills of the States/UTs that will finalize the audited accounts with supporting documents by August 15, 2022, will be cleared within 60 days (October 15, 2022). However, the States/UTs that will provide details in next 3 months (July-Sept 2022), their bills will be paid by January 31, 2023. And the States/UTs that will take longer than that, will not be paid any interest. He further said that the subsidy claims are pending not because the funds are not available with the Centre, but because the States/UTs are not providing relevant data. As many participating States/UTs raised concern over delay in CAG audit, he directed the officials to get in touch with CAG for expediting the audits. Adding on he said that all claims after April 2020, will be digitized. Shri Goyal said that the absence of states Telangana, Orissa, Jharkhand, Delhi, Andhra Pradesh, West Bengal, Rajasthan, Uttarakhand, Arunachal Pradesh, Assam and Nagaland reflects poorly.

Earlier, the Conference began with a moderated discussion on food security, rice fortification and food-basket diversification. The panel discussion was moderated by Shri Vinay Kumar, Secretary, Food & Consumer Protection Department, Government of Bihar and joined by Smt Mamta Shankar, Sr. Economic Advisor, Department of Food and Public Distribution, Government of India; Dr Kapil Yadav, Additional Professor, Community Medicine, AIIMS; Dr Shariqua Yunus, Head Nutrition Unit, World Food Programme; Dr MS Radhika, Sr. Scientist, ICMR-NIN; and Dr Konda Reddy Chavva, Consultant, FAO (India).

23-Mar-2022: Under the National Food Security Act, 2013 (NFSA), the inclusion and exclusion of beneficiaries is the responsibility of the respective State/UT Governments

The Union Minister of State for Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution, Ms. Sadhvi Niranjan Jyoti in a written reply to a question in Lok Sabha today informed that under the National Food Security Act, 2013 (NFSA), inter-alia the inclusion and exclusion of beneficiaries is the responsibility of the respective State/UT Governments. Further, inclusion and exclusion of beneficiaries under NFSA is an ongoing process as per the eligibility criteria evolved by the States/UTs. Accordingly, leveraging the implementation of information technology for Targeted Public Distribution System (TPDS) reforms under NFSA, digitization of ration cards/beneficiaries’ data, de-duplication process, permanent migration, deaths, identification of ineligible/duplicate/fake ration cards, etc. the States/UTs so far have reported cancellation of about 4.28 Crore ration cards during the period 2014 to 2021. However, linking or non-linking of Aadhaar with ration cards is not a criterion for deletion/cancellation of ration cards under NFSA. A statement showing State/UT wise, and year wise number of ration cards deleted by States/UTs during 2014 to 2021 is at Annexure.

To ensure all NFSA beneficiaries are in receipt of their monthly foodgrains in full quantities as per the entitlements of their Antyodaya Anna Yojana (AAY) and Priority Household (PHH) ration cards, all States/UT have been advised vide time to time letters, meetings and video conferences to ensure the distribution of foodgrains at FPSs through transparent electronic Point of Sale (ePoS) device transactions, along with biometric authentication of beneficiaries and provide ePoS printed transaction receipts to all beneficiaries in local/bilingual languages.

Under the Notification dated 08/02/2017 (as amended from time to time), issued by the Department pursuant to Section-7 of the Aadhaar Act 2016, the timeline given to all States/UTs for linking of Aadhaar numbers of beneficiaries with their ration cards has been extended up to 31/03/2022. Until then, as per the extant instructions of the Department vide letters dated 24/10/2017 and 08/11/2018, States/UTs have been advised that no genuine NFSA beneficiary/household shall be denied from receiving their entitled quota of subsidized foodgrains only for want of Aadhaar; or due to failure of biometric/Aadhaar authentication due to network/ connectivity/ linking related issues, poor biometrics of the beneficiary or any other technical reasons.

States/UTs were also advised to integrate electronic weighing machines/scales with ePoS devices at all FPSs to ensure correct and transparent weighment of foodgrains by FPS dealers at the time of distribution. Presently, around 90% of monthly foodgrains allocated by the Department are distributed by the States/UTs through ePoS transactions.

6-Aug-2021: Supplementary Nutrition Under NFSA

The entitlements referred to in Sections 4,5 and Section 6 of the National Food Security Act, 2013 are provided under the Supplementary Nutritional Programme of Anganwadi Services of the Central Government to pregnant women and lactating mothers till six months after child birth, and to every child in the age group of six months to six years.

Supplementary Nutrition (SNP) is provided for 300 days in a year. SNP provided to the beneficiaries is in the form of supplementary food and not a full meal and has been primarily designed to bridge the gap between the Recommended Dietary Allowance (RDA) and the Average Daily Intake (ADI). Moreover, Anganwadi Centres are also not open for all 365 days in a year. Further, this Ministry has also, vide communication dated 13.01.2021, issued streamlining guidelines to all States/UTs on quality assurance, roles and responsibilities of Duty Holders, procedure for procurement, integrating AYUSH concepts and data management and monitoring through `Poshan Tracker' for transparency, efficiency and accountability in delivery of Supplementary Nutrition.

3-Jun-2021: Centre issued advisory to all States/UTs to launch special drive to issue NFSA ration cards to most vulnerable & economically weaker sections of population

To Ensure coverage of all eligible identified persons from the most vulnerable & economically weakest sections of population under National Food Security Act assumes importance in view of current pandemic scenario of Covid-19.

The Department of Food and Public Distribution has issued an advisory on 2nd June, 2021 to all States/UTs to launch a special drive to reach out, identify & issue NFSA ration cards to the most vulnerable and economically weakest sections of the population in urban and rural areas, by utilizing the available coverage under their respective NFSA limits.

The Department has called upon States/UTs to take measures to reach out to vulnerable and weakest sections of the society i.e. street dwellers, rag pickers, hawkers, rickshaw pullers among others. The operational responsibilities of identification of eligible persons/households under NFSA and issuance of ration cards to them rests with States/UTs.

5-May-2021: Cabinet approves allocation of additional foodgrains to NFSA Beneficiaries under Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Anna Yojana (Phase III) for another period of two months – May and June, 2021

The Cabinet, chaired by Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi, has given its ex-post facto approval to the following:

1. Allocation of additional foodgrains under Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Anna Yojana Phase III- for another period of 2 months e. May to June, 2021 @ 5 kg per person per month free of cost for about 79.88 Crore beneficiaries covered under NFSA (AAY & PHH) including those covered under DBT.
2. The State/UT-wise allocation in terms of wheat/rice shall be decided by the Department of Food & Public Distribution on the basis of existing allocation ratio under NFSA. Also, the Department of Food and Public Distribution may decide on the extension of the lifting/distribution period under PMGKAY as per operational requirements keeping in view partial and local lockdown situations, and also arising out of adverse weather conditions like monsoon, cyclones, supply chain and Covid-induced constraints etc.
3. The total outgo in terms of food-grains may be approximately 80 LMT.

The allocation of additional food-grain free of cost to approximately 79.88 Crore individuals under TPDS @ 5 Kg per person per month for two months i.e. May to June, 2021 would entail an estimated food subsidy of Rs. 25332.92Crore taking the estimated Economic Cost of Rs. 36789.2/MT for rice and Rs. 25731.4/ MT for wheat.

Additional allocation will ameliorate the hardships faced by poor due to economic disruption caused by Corona Virus.  No poor family will suffer on account of non-availability of food-grains due to disruption in the next two months.

24-Apr-2021: More than 80 crore NFSA beneficiaries will be provided additional 80 LMTs of foodgrains under the PMGKAY scheme 2021

In line with Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s commitment to the poor and to ameliorate the hardships faced by the poor and needy due to Covid-19 situation, the PMGKAY scheme is announced by the Government of India by the Union Government for the month of May and June 2021.The Secretary Department of Food & Public Distribution Shri Sudhanshu Pandey today briefed the media persons about the announced Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Anna Yojana.

Under this scheme it has been decided to allocate free-of-cost food grains @ 5 Kg per person per month to nearly 80 Crore beneficiaries covered under National Food Security Act, 2013 (NFSA). This allocation would be over and above NFSA foodgrains for next two months i.e. May and June 2021 on the same pattern as the earlier “Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Anna Yojana (PM-GKAY)”.

In his opening remarks, Shri Pandey informed that the Food Corporation of India will be providing additional 80 LMT foodgrains in the month of May and June 2021, under the special scheme to respective State/ UT Governments, in addition to their regular NFSA allocation.

Shri Pandey further added that approximately 179 LMT foodgrains, for NFSA & this scheme will have to be supplied in May and June 2021 for which FCI is fully geared and has adequate availability of stocks of food grain in States/UTs.

Further he added that the planned movement of stocks of foodgrains procured in Kharif Marketing season 2020-21 and ongoing procurement in Rabi Marketing season 2021-22, will take care of any requirements during this period.

Under this special scheme, around 80 Crore NFSA beneficiaries covered under both categories of NFSA, namely Antyodaya Anna Yojana (AAY) and Priority Householders (PHH), will be provided with an additional quota of free-of-cost foodgrains (Rice/Wheat) at a scale of 5 Kg per person per month, over and above their regular monthly entitlements under NFSA.

The Secretary informed that during 2020-21, Government of India had announced PMGKAY-I (April-June 2020) and PMGKAY-II (July-November 2020) under which 104 LMT wheat and 201 LMT rice, total 305 LMT foodgrains were successfully supplied by FCI to the respective State/ UT governments he added.

23-Apr-2021: Additional free-of-cost foodgrains to be distributed to NFSA Beneficiaries under Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Anna Yojana in May and June 2021

In line with Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s commitment to the poor, the Government of India has decided to allocate free-of-cost food grains @ 5 Kg per person per month to nearly 80 Crore beneficiaries covered under National Food Security Act, 2013 (NFSA) over and above NFSA foodgrains for next two months i.e. May and June 2021 on the same pattern as the earlier “Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Anna Yojana (PM-GKAY)” .

Under this special scheme (PMGKAY), around 80 Crore NFSA beneficiaries covered under both categories of NFSA, namely Antyodaya Anna Yojana (AAY) and Priority Householders (PHH), will be provided with an additional quota of free-of-cost foodgrains (Rice/Wheat) at a scale of 5 Kg per person per month, over and above their regular monthly entitlements under NFSA.

Government of India will bear full expenditure of over  Rs 26,000 Crore on account of cost of food grains, intrastate transportation etc. as part of Central assistance to States/UTs.

20-Feb-2021: 30 lakh beneficiaries have been added to NFSA, and State is in the process of identifying more beneficiaries.

Secretary (Food), Department of Food &Public Distribution, Government of India Shri Sudhanshu Pandey, reviewed the NFSA implementation and other allied matters with State Government of Gujarat at Gandhinagar.

He expressed that there is possibility of including more beneficiaries under coverage of NFSA to which State Govt informed that 30 lakh beneficiaries have been added in recent past and they are in process of identifying more beneficiaries through convergence with other central programs like National Social Assistance program, etc.

It was observed that there is potential of augmenting procurement of wheat and paddy under PSS as currently percentage of procurement vis a vis production is less. Production of both wheat and paddy is higher than annual requirement of foodgrains of Gujarat State under NFSA.  It was emphasized that State Government should target procuring to the extent of annual requirement which would not only benefit local farmers but also save the transportation cost which is incurred in bringing food grains from other States. Acceptance of locally cultivated food grains would also be higher among local population.

Secretary (Food) informed that Automatic Grain dispensing machines being tested in 5 cities on pilot basis that enable beneficiaries to obtain subsidized food grains without having to visit FPS to provide freedom to the beneficiaries. State Govt of Gujarat also expressed its willingness to install such machine in Ahmedabad city on trial basis.

There also seems to be potential of procuring maize considering that its production in Gujarat is in excess of 3 LMT.  Keeping in view that the consumption of petro products in Gujarat is high, he advised that maize can be used as raw material in production of ethanol. Considering less availability of molasses, there is need to substitute it with maize. Further, by product obtained in the process of manufacturing ethanol from maize is rich in protein and can be used as poultry feed.

Plan of Government of India to modernize storage capacity was also discussed. It was informed that Steel Silos of 100 LMT would be created for storage of wheat. As availability of land for creation of silo is major challenge, it was stressed that State Governments should explore the possibility of providing spare land for creation of storage infrastructure. It is also planned to phase out end of life Godowns of FCI, CWC, State Warehousing Corporations and built silos by dismantling such Godowns. Simultaneously, Rice Silos shall also be promoted.

Secretary (Food), visited Food Research Laboratory situated at Gandhinagar. Laboratory has state of art testing equipment and facilities which can be utilized for carrying out studies in the field of processing, storage and preservation of foodgrains. He observed that research on determining optimal level of polishing of paddy so as to retain its nutritional values with enhanced shelf life can be undertaken.

Secretary (Food) also visited newly constructed Silo complex at Bankhoda village in Ahmedabad district.  Silo of 50,000 MT storage capacity with railway siding facility has been built by M/s Total Agri Services Pvt. Ltd. under 30 years guarantee by FCI.  It is planned to transport wheat from Silos in Punjab in bulk by utilizing containers for which arrangement is being done by CONCOR. Once system of transporting wheat in bulk in containers is tested, it will be used for more silos that would come up in future.

6-Nov-2020: 4.39 crore bogus ration cards weeded out since 2013 for rightful targeting of beneficiaries under NFSA-Department of Food & Public Distribution

As part technology-driven PDS reforms across the country to modernise the Targeted Public Distribution System (TPDS) and to improve the transparency and efficiency in its operations through digitization of ration cards/beneficiaries databases, Aadhaar seeding, detection of ineligible/bogus ration cards, de-duplication of digitised data, migration/deaths of beneficiaries and during the run-up to the implementation of NFSA, a total of about 4.39 Crore ineligible/bogus ration cards have been weeded out in the country during the period 2013 to 2020, so far, by the State/UT Governments.

Further, the respective quota of NFSA coverage thus released, is being regularly utilised by concerned State/UT for the ‘Rightful Targeting’ of beneficiaries under NFSA i.e. inclusion/addition of other genuine & rightfully eligible beneficiaries/households by issuing new ration cards to them, while remaining within the respective ceiling limits of coverage defined for each States/UT under the Act.

The NFSA provides coverage for 81.35 Crore persons to receive highly subsidised foodgrains through TPDS, which is nearly 2/3rd of the country’s population as per the Census of 2011. Presently, more than 80 Crore persons in the country are receiving foodgrains (Rice, Wheat and Coarse grains) at highly subsidised Central Issue Prices of Rs. 3, 2 and 1 per Kg respectively under NFSA, on monthly basis.

23-Aug-2020: Department of Food &Public Distribution issues directions to States/UTs to include all eligible disabled persons under the National Food Security Act 2013

The Department of Food and Public Distribution under Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food & Public Distribution has sent letters to States Governments/UTs to include all eligible disabled persons under the National Food Security Act 2013. Section 38 of the Act mandates that the Central Government may from time to time give directions to the State Governments for effective implementation if the provisions of the Act. The Department advised all States/UTs to ensure that all disabled persons, who are eligible as per identification criteria of beneficiaries under NFSA, are covered under the National Food Security Act 2013 and they get their entitled quota of food grains under NFSA & PMGKAY as per provisions of the Act.

It is stated that those not already covered should be covered with fresh ration cards to be issued as per the eligibility criteria. It is also reiterated that disability is one of the criteria for inclusion of beneficiaries under AAY households and as disabled persons are vulnerable section of the society. The letter further advised that it is imperative that they are also covered by States/UTs under the priority households as per the criteria of identification evolved by them

The Section 10 of the National Food Security Act, 2013 provides for coverage of persons under the Antyodaya Anna Yojana in accordance with the guidelines applicable to the said scheme and the remaining households as priority households in accordance with such guidelines as the States Government may specify.

The Aatma Nirbhar Bharat Package of the Government of India is for the persons, who are not covered either under NFSA or any States Scheme PDS Cards. Hence, the disabled persons without ration cards are also eligible for getting benefits under Atma Nirbhar Bharat package. Since this scheme would lapse on August 31,2020 and there is still one week left for this, the Department requested to all States/UTs, that they may identify such disabled persons who do not have ration cards and provide them benefits under Atma Nirbhar Bharat Package. The letter also mentioned that the scheme started in May 2020 and it was presumed that all eligible beneficiaries without ration cards including the disabled should have been covered. It is understood that the ration lifted so far has been utilized by the States for distributing to eligible beneficiaries without ration cards including the disabled. States are requested to undertake proactive steps in this regard.

27-Jun-2019: Efficient implementation of National Food Security Act

The Union Minister of Consumer Affairs, Food & Public Distribution, Shri Ram Vilas Paswan met State Food Secretaries and State government officials along with officials of Food Corporation of India (FCI),Central Warehousing Corporation (CWC) and State Warehousing Corporations (SWCs) in New Delhi. Shri Paswan discussed various issues pertaining to efficient implementation of national food security act, End to end computerisation, transparency in storage and distribution of food grains and synergising of all FCI depots and CWC and SWC depots with the Depot Online System (DOS).

The work done by the department of Food and Public Distribution is very important and it is almost a life line for the beneficiaries wherein 612 lakh ton of food grains stored in warehouses of FCI, CWC, SWCs and private godowns are distributed among 81 crore beneficiaries annually. Shri Paswan asserted that use of Information Technology right from the time of purchase of food grains till its distribution will help in increasing the overall efficiency of the entire process, while maintaining transparency and curbing corruption.

The Union Minister expressed satisfaction over the fact that the Depot Online System (DOS) has been implemented in all warehouses of Food Corporation of India (FCI) and 144 depots of Central Warehousing Corporation and the food grain procurement process of FCI is also being done online. Shri Paswan expressed happiness that most States have also made their procurement, storage and distribution processes online in some way or the other.

Shri Paswan emphasised that it is imperative that there is a seamless flow of information online between the FCI and States and therefore they need to be integrated so that exact information about how much food grain has been procured from which mandi, which warehouse it is stored in and for how long and when it has been released for distribution can be available. There should also be information about the quality of food grains at the time of purchase, storage conditions in the warehouse, when it is given to PDS shops and when the shops have distributed it to the beneficiaries. The Union Minister insisted that there should be a system for storage of all such qualitative and quantitative information which can then be accessed through the ‘’annavitaran’’ portal. The Union Minister said that this will help in improving the image of FCI, CWC and SWCs.

The key decision taken in the meeting was that FCI will provide an internet gateway for integrating DOS with State governments within 4 months. After that, within 2 months, States will integrate their Warehouse Management Systems with DOS. The Union Minister issued instructions to the officials of Department of Food and PD to review the progress in 4 months and next meeting in this regard will be held in January, 2020.

Another key decision taken was moving towards One Nation One Ration Card (RC) which will ensure all beneficiaries especially migrants can access PDS across the nation from any PDS shop of their own choice. This will provide freedom to the beneficiaries as they will not be tied to any one PDS shop and reduce their dependence on shop owners and curtail instances of corruption. Integrated Management of PDS (IMPDS) is a system that is already operational in Andhra Pradesh, Gujarat, Haryana, Jharkhand, Karnataka, Kerala, Maharashtra, Rajasthan, Telangana and Tripura wherein a beneficiary can avail his share of food grain from any district in the State.

In the meeting, other states also assured that IMPDS will be implemented at the earliest. The Department of Food and PD is working on war footing to achieve the objective of One Nation One Ration Card and in the next two months beneficiaries of Telangana and Andhra Pradesh will be able to access the PDS shops. The objective of the department is to ensure that this is implemented nationally in a time bound manner. There will also be creation of a Central Repository of all RCs which will help in de-duplication. Shri Paswan asserted that the biggest beneficiary of this will be those migrant labourers who move to other States to seek better job opportunities and will ensure their food security.

7-Dec-2022: The Digital Personal Data Protection Bill 2022

The Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology has prepared a draft Bill, titled the Digital Personal Data Protection Bill 2022 and has invited feedback from the public as part of its public consultation exercise. The draft Bill sets out the rights and duties of the citizen (Digital Nagrik) and the obligations of the Data Fiduciary to use the collected data lawfully. As part of the compliance framework, it envisages the setting up of a Data Protection Board of India to determine non-compliance with the provisions of the draft Bill, impose penalty for such non-compliance, and perform such other functions as the Central Government may assign to it under the provisions of the draft Bill or any law.

Currently, the Information Technology (Reasonable Security Practices and Procedures and Sensitive Personal Data or Information) Rules, 2011, made by the Central Government in exercise of its powers under the Information Technology Act 2000, provide the security practices and procedures that a body corporate or any person collecting, receiving, possessing, storing, dealing or handling information on behalf of the body corporate is required to observe for protecting personal data of users. These practices and procedures include the requirements that such body corporate or person publish on the website a policy for privacy and disclosure of personal information, data or information, to use information collected for the purpose for which it has been collected, to keep it secure and to obtain prior permission of the information provider for disclosing personal data.

18-Nov-2022: MeitY invites feedback on the draft ‘Digital Personal Data Protection Bill 2022’

The Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology has been deliberating on various aspects of digital personal data and its protection, and has formulated a draft Bill, titled ‘The Digital Personal Data Protection Bill 2022’. The purpose of the draft Bill is to provide for the processing of digital personal data in a manner that recognizes both the right of individuals to protect their personal data and the need to process personal data for lawful purposes, and for matters connected therewith or incidental thereto.

The draft Bill employs plain and simple language to facilitate ease of understanding and is available on Ministry’s website at https://www.meity.gov.in/data-protection-framework along with an Explanatory note that provides a brief overview of its provisions, which is available at https://www.meity.gov.in/data-protection-framework

The Digital Personal Data Protection Bill 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 bill is based on the following principles around the Data Economy:

The Bill will establish the comprehensive legal framework governing digital personal data protection in India. The Bill provides for the processing of digital personal data in a manner that recognizes the right of individuals to protect their personal data, societal rights and the need to process personal data for lawful purposes.

The Ministry has invited feedback from the public on the draft Bill. The submissions will not be disclosed and held in fiduciary capacity, to enable persons submitting feedback to provide the same freely. No public disclosure of the submissions will be made.

The feedback on the draft bill in a chapter wise manner may be submitted on  https://innovateindia.mygov.in/digital-data-protection/ by December 17, 2022.