DNA profiling Bill full of loopholes, violates privacy: Congress
New Delhi, Aug 26 : The Congress on Sunday said the DNA profiling Bill prepared by the Narendra Modi government was full of loopholes and would violate the right to privacy in its current form. It termed the proposed legislation as "ill-conceived" and an attempt by the government to "strengthen the conformity that surveillance breeds".
Congress Spokesman Abhishek Manu Singhvi said that the DNA profiling Bill was the latest in a series of attempts by the Modi government to "snoop and spy on ordinary citizens".
"The introduction of DNA Technology (Use and Application) Regulation Bill, 2018, in a hush-hush manner, in the recently concluded monsoon session of Parliament is another attempt towards this mala fide objective," Singhvi said.
"Surveillance breeds conformity. And this government is an absolute conformist government. The DNA bill is an attempt to strengthen this conformity," he added.
He said that "fearing backlash" from opposition in the Rajya Sabha, the government withdrew the bill after listing it in the business of the House, but then it notified it in the business of the Lok Sabha, where it has a majority, at late night on August 8 and introduced it the next day.
Singhvi clarified that the Congress party was not in principle against DNA profiling, but the government should first bring a comprehensive data protection law "encompassing issues pertaining to all the sectors and ministries" after wide public consultations.
"The DNA Database could be another Aadhaar-like database, without adequate protection and safeguards. DNA samples can reveal more intrusive information about a person and hence there is a greater risk of this information getting misused," Singhvi said.
The Congress leader pointed out that the A.P. Shah Committee on privacy has expressed its concerns on the issue of breach of privacy by DNA profiling.
"The Committee made several recommendations including ensuring safeguards against breach of data by the government, right of citizens against retention of data, notification and mandatory consent of data subject taken before sharing the data with third party, besides many. The bill does not seem to consider either of the recommendations," he said.
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Maharashtra sets up state vaccination task force to strengthen immunisation programme
Mumbai (PTI): The Maharashtra government has set up a State Vaccination Task Force to strengthen the regular immunisation programme and review the progress of related campaigns, a health department official said on Monday.
The State Vaccination Task Force will comprise at least 29 members and will be headed by the administrative head of the health department, he informed.
The government has also constituted separate district-level and municipal vaccination task forces to improve implementation and address challenges at the grassroots level, he said.
Municipal task forces, chaired by respective civic commissioners, have been constituted in view of the vast urban population in Maharashtra and the role of civic bodies in implementing different health programmes.
The district-level task forces will function under the chairmanship of collectors.
"Complete immunisation of children at the appropriate age is an extremely simple, cost-effective and highly effective measure to reduce child mortality and the prevalence of diseases among kids. Immunisation is a powerful tool for reducing illness in children," maintained the official.
To ensure full vaccination of all children, the state government implements various campaigns from time to time as per the central government guidelines, he pointed out.
"Active participation and cooperation of other relevant government departments are essential (in making these campaigns successful)," according to the official.
The state-level body will review the regular immunisation programme, associated campaigns and vaccine-preventable diseases in detail. It will also conduct focused assessments of high-risk districts and municipal corporations, including vacancies at district, municipal and sub-district levels, availability of cold chain equipment, resource gaps and training requirements, he noted.
The state task force will review allocation and utilisation of funds for immunisation and ensure timely action by officers concerned based on reports from district and municipal task forces and state-level monitoring mechanisms, the official said.
It will also ensure active coordination and participation of other government departments in immunisation drives, while district and municipal task forces will carry out similar functions at their respective levels, the official added.
