In a first, India uses ‘she’ and ‘her’ to refer to all genders in a draft data protection bill

On Friday, in a first for the Indian government and the legislative history of the country, the pronouns “she” and “her” have been used to refer to individuals irrespective of gender in the Digital Personal Data Protection Bill, 2022. The bill has been put up by the country’s Union Minister for Communications, Electronics and Information Technology, Ashwini Vaishnaw, for public consultation.

“With the philosophy (Indian) Prime Minister Narendra Modi's government works, we have attempted to use the word ‘she’ and ‘her’ in the entire Bill instead of ‘him’ and ‘his’,” said the union minister. He added that this “innovative” move has been attempted in the bill while speaking to the press.

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A section of the proposed legislation reads, “In this Act, the pronouns “her” and “she” have been used for an individual, irrespective of gender.” Meanwhile, an explanatory note of the draft also noted that this was in line with the government’s philosophy of empowering women.

The Personal Data Protection Bill was previously withdrawn in August after a joint committee of the Indian parliament suggested at least 81 amendments to a 99-section bill. It was first proposed in Lok Sabha (lower house) in December 2019 following protests from the opposition Congress and other parties who said that it violated citizens' fundamental rights.

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The proposed bill aims to protect internet users and create a system for individuals’ digital personal data which can be processed in a way that recognises the right to protect their personal data. The government has sought consultation and comments till December 17 which is the last date for the stakeholders to submit their remarks. Furthermore, the focus of the bill is to create a safe and trusted digital ecosystem in India.

(With inputs from agencies)

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