Letters to the Editor dated March 12, 2020

This refers to the editorial ‘Data privacy concerns’ (March 12). At first glance, the proposed Personal Data Protection Bill 2019 appears to be arbitrary and whimsical in design. The Bill, in essence, is not about data protection but invasion of gullible individuals’ data. The contention that it shall be invoked in special circumstances does not cut much ice as the government’s default criteria for a person or organisation to be called anti-national is being critical of the government.

The government whose inherent nature is to play fast and loose with the laws of the land may not resist the temptation of misusing and abusing the proposed piece of legislation. This is likely to result in witch-hunting against adversaries. Further, with our judicial system already clogged with myriad litigations, the so-called draconian law will only burden it more.

Digital technology is evolving at such a rapid pace that machine learning and algorithms can be seamlessly programmed to override the codified government laws and it shall be very hard to catch up with these technological giants.

The country has enough of laws to book an offender, however implementing them objectively and fairly is the need of the hour.

Chennai

The Personal Data Protection Bill needs to be deliberated upon and reinvented. Any number of court judgments have laid down that should privacy be invaded by the government for legitimate investigation, procedures and rules must apply. Implicit is the proviso that the agency shall hold such information as obtained, in the strictest of confidence. The current Bill, on the contrary, seeks to exempt government agencies from such and other safeguards. The government may well claim holding a broad umbrella of concerns that include national security, but it has to address the legitimate angst of common citizen for assured personal and business privacy. The problem in this digital age is that we are unclear as to the core concerns on data privacy. To be fair, every nation is as unsure. In the meanwhile, ad-hoc decisions/clearances will only add to the complexity of formulating a fair legislation.

Mumbai

Apropos ‘Markets paying for the sins of central bank’ (March 12), it is the pivotal duty of the central bank of a country to provide a balanced supply of credit depending on market conditions. But global central banks — the US Fed, European Central Bank, Bank of England and Bank of Japan — started easing liquidity with the bank rate mechanism to cope up with the market need. But the global economic contraction, general weakness of the markets, excessive dependence on corporate performance, bad governance by banks, and financing speculative positions across asset clauses are among factors that caused the market crash.

Sivakasi

This refers to ‘MSMEs need cash-flow based financing’ (March 12). To do this on a sustainable and long-term basis, the whole banking ecosystem needs to align with this approach.

Yes, cash-flow based funding differs from sector to sector as the cash-flow cycle varies from sector to sector and business to business. What is critical for the success of cash flow-based financing is that the relationship managers of banks must meet as many stakeholders as possible to really understand the business model thoroughly before making a proposal.

Noida

The exit of Jyotiraditya Scindia from the Congress to join the BJP was surprising. The move comes at a time when the Congress party is witnessing the exodus of many leaders. The Congress party has lost one of its best leaders who enjoys immense goodwill of the people of Madhya Pradesh. As a newly nominated MP in the Rajya Sabha, the BJP will benefit from having a people-centric personality like Scindia in its party.

Bengaluru

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR Send your letters by email to bleditor@thehindu.co.in or by post to ‘Letters to the Editor’, The Hindu Business Line, Kasturi Buildings, 859-860, Anna Salai, Chennai 600002.

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