Bullish on India: India is moving towards an era of trust and transparency, ASG Venkatraman

N Venkatraman

Terming India’s move to do away with archaic compliances as a step towards "trust and transparency," Additional Solicitor General of India N Venkatraman noted that the government’s change in approach will enhance ease of doing business.

Speaking of the Jan Vishwas bill, which was passed in parliament on August 2, Venkatraman said: “Earlier, the (compliance) regime had lots of checks and balances, That has now changed by 180-degrees, because trust and transparency is now the order.”

The bill seeks to reduce the compliance burden on businesses by amending as many as 42 acts, and as many as 113 provisions of the bill pertain to the ease of doing business. It also decriminalises many offences and introduces penalties in place of prison terms. For instance, in the Public Liability Insurance Act, 1991, and the Information Technology Act, 2000, many offences that involve imprisonment will be replaced with monetary penalties.

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Changing times

The ASG said that to keep pace with changes, including on the technological front, the government has passed legislations such as the Digital Personal Data Protection Act. He added that considering the country’s technological advancement and the growth of cross-border businesses, protecting data has become important. “Because we are taking the right steps towards technological development, such a law was needed to protect India’s interests,” he said.

On August 11, President of India Draupadi Murmu gave her assent to the Data Protection bill, making it the law of the land. This law offers a legislative framework for rule-making. For example, it stipulates that the government will identify a list of countries to which the transfer of data is prohibited. The rule-making processes will establish the criteria upon which a country can be designated for inclusion in this blacklist.

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Third largest economy

According to Venkatraman, laws passed by a country should lead to peace and harmony for its citizens, and growth and development for its businesses. Accordingly, he said that laws are now being passed to enhance stability, peace, and harmony, and to propel India to become the third largest economy in the world.

“Keeping these two aspects (peace and prosperity) in mind in whatever we do will help make India strong on the geopolitical stage,” he added.