In The First, India Uses 'She', 'Her' To Refer To All Genders In Draft Law

It is a historical moment as for the first time the pronouns "she" and "her" have been used to refer to all genders in India's legislative history. In the draft Digital Personal Data Protection Bill, 2022, the pronouns used were she and her.

Communications Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw tweeted on the matter seeking the public's views on the drafted bill that acknowledges an individual's right to protect personal data and also the need to process personal data for lawful purposes.

Female Pronouns In Personal Data Bill

Vaishnaw tweeted, "We have attempted in the philosophy of women's empowerment that Prime Minister Narendra Modi's government works to use the words she and her in the entire bill, instead of he, him and his. So this is an innovative thing which has been attempted in the bill."

He shared the link of draft. The draft included a section titled Interpretation, which states-

In this Act: -
(1) unless the context otherwise requires, a reference to “provisions of this
Act” shall be read as including a reference to Rules made under this Act.

(2) “the option to access … in English or any language specified in the
Eighth Schedule to the Constitution of India” shall mean that the Data
Principal may select either English or any one of the languages specified in
the Eighth Schedule to the Constitution of India;

(3) the pronouns “her” and “she” have been used for an individual,
irrespective of gender.

Also, the initiative is said to be in sync with PM Modi's "Beti Bachao Beti Padhao" campaign, which seeks to empower the girl child and encourage families to educate and raise them well.

Personal Data Protection Bill retreated in August after a joint parliamentary committee suggested 81 changes to it. The opposition-Congress and the Trinamool Congress-led protest against the bill citing that the proposed law violated citizens' fundamental rights. It was then sent to the parliamentary committee in 2019.

The opposition parties reportedly also pointed out that the proposed law gave powers to the government to access the personal data of people with no transparency. Under the name of national security and other reasons, it is possible to invade people's privacy and misuse data. After the allegations that the government used Israel's Pegasus spyware to snoop on its critics, the stand of opposition on draft data protection law remains solid.

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