The Communications Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw has all hands on the deck on the ambitious plan to kickstart domestic production of semiconductors. In an exclusive interview with BusinessLine, Vaishnaw discussed the Personal Data Protection Bill, the necessity to evolve a consensus around regulation and freedom of speech amid the proliferation and dangers of social media on the society as also his high-priority focus on semiconductors. Excerpts:

What is the current status of the Personal Data Protection Bill?

Frankly, the Bill has gone through a very detailed consultation process. It’s almost four years of consultation and since I was a member of the Joint Committee of Parliament when all these consultations happened, I can say that the consultation process has been comprehensive. The next step has to be taken by the government. Some concerns remain which could perhaps have been resolved during the consultation process. I believe certain issues have to be examined in context.

For instance, with regard to government exemptions, if you look at the global benchmarks such as the GDPR statute, there are eight points on which government has been given exemption. What is being proposed in the current format of the Bill is merely just four points. And these are in line with the constitutional provisions. The scope for exemptions is much wider in the global context. I would urge the civil society organisations to take this into consideration. We admit that there is scope for significant simplification in the institutional structure and the execution ecosystem of the statute.

The government would surely work towards making it more attuned to the contemporary reality of a digital world where physical benches, paper applications are somewhat outdated. Now, should all this be done in the Bill or during the rule making process is an open question. I believe it can be done even during the rule-making process without tinkering too much with the legislation. I have held interactions with Nasscom too. They are primarily related to compliance burden on the industry. That’s a fair concern and I think that can be addressed. Ultimately, we all have to agree that the world is moving ahead and we need to bring a balance in this discourse very quickly. We need to take this to a logical conclusion.

So would that require a fresh proposed statute, which would mean starting the whole process again…

The consultation process has been very comprehensive. I do not think we need to start that exercise all over again.

Are we going to wait for another two years for a fresh legislation?

I don’t think so. Of course, we need to do a lot of work because the Committee report is quite comprehensive and we need to process it. We are in the process of examining the recommendations and proceeding accordingly.

What about the impact of social media and citizen’s privacy till then, we have seen glaring example of individual privacy being violated and personal data mined by big corporations.

The balance has to be brought somewhere. The whole world today is concerned about impact of social media on society. We definitely need regulation but we also need constructive debate and consensus on this issue. Even when one is aware of the dangers of individual privacy violations or other dangers, the very mention of regulation starts a debate on freedom of speech. If we introduce regulation, there is this allegation of curtailing freedom of speech and the flip side of it is the charge that we are not doing enough.

We all need to understand that this is an evolving ecosystem and very rapidly advancing technology. So what we need here is a totally non-partisan, impartial debate where we can constructively evolve a consensus. This necessarily involves the entire political spectrum as also the civil society. We need to find a balance between freedom of expression and regulation. I frankly do not believe that the Data Protection Bill alone is meant for that purpose. This requires more work on other fronts.

So, it is unlikely to pass in the Budget Session?

Our target was this session. Certainly it won’t be inordinately delayed. We are working on it data privacy is a sensitive issue and I can say that we should see the results soon.

What about the non-personal data protection Bill?

The non-personal data committee constituted by the Ministry has given its report. Again, that is a complex issue because the Joint Parliamentary Committee wanted it to be a part of the Data Protection Bill. How do we do that? Had we gone with straightforward construct of laying down privacy principles in the Bill, which many countries did, then it would have been a much easier task.

What is the progress on the semiconductor PLI scheme? Some industry people feel there would be issues on land acquisitions/ water/ electricity supply…

None of what you’ve listed is an issue really. How much land do we need – 300-400 acres? Every steel plant requires at least 4,000-5,000 acres. Power supply can be designed with double redundancy. Ultra-pure water has to be manufactured. It would be manufactured here like it is manufactured across the world.

In fact, the government has moved very fast and has a comprehensive, long-term plan. What the industry too appreciates is that we have given a 20-year commitment. We are the only country in the world which has committed to train 85,000 semiconductor engineers in our top-class institutes. There are so many countries which are willing to throw billions of dollars after any project, but where is the talent? Which is the country which has given commitment to talent? But, we have committed for 85,000 engineers and already the programme is in place.

We are on the verge of completing discussions with All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) where we are finalising what will be the course curriculum in BTech/ MTech programmes, what would be the skill required down below the technician level, what would be the PhD programmes in which we have to go for ultra-advanced design processes. We have factored in all the five elements – silicon fab, display fab, compound semiconductors, semiconductor packaging and design.

So, today the global players are impressed with India’s attention to detail, seriousness and commitment. The question is how fast we close the first set of applications we have received, and I can tell you that we are working with a laser sharp focus on that. We have a laser sharp focus on execution.

What about in the telecom sector now after the reforms?

After the announcement of the telecom reforms in September, you can see the entire industry structure has changed. For instance, earlier, permission for setting up a tower station would take months. But, today it might even take a few minutes only, if it is away from sensitive areas like a Defence centre or the airports.

But, the tariff rates are going up now…

We have the lowest price in the world. I think that is fair and we need that for digital inclusion. But, ultimately that is something which is decided by the industry and TRAI.

Is the merger of BSNL-MTNL and now with BBNL happening? And, there are reports of BSNL employees not happy…

Those issues are there and no doubt about it because telecom is a capital-intensive industry. But, we have found a way by which BSNL becomes sustainable. The sustainability of BSNL is looking possible now, and BSNL has made the first operating profit after many years. BSNL is also conducting Proof of Concept for development of 4G Atmanirbhar technology stack. BSNL will also roll out 5G after 4G.

When will be the timeline for 5G spectrum auction now?

The final recommendations have to come from TRAI, which is expected in March and we are looking for an auction timeframe of May/June.

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