Article 21 Trust (India)

Govt wants to enable private use of #Aadhaar authentication. We (@mv_meanderings & @praavita) argue that this is unconstitutional, violative of SC's 2018 Aadhaar judgment which prohibited this specifically & will make people more vulnerable to frauds - indianexpress.com/article/opinio…

2025 WRAP Till end of 2025, resistance to forced digitisation and coercion continued – litigation by anganwadi workers, protest by teachers in Maharashtra and a powerful strike by over 2 lakh gig workers. We look at a year of resisting coercive tech: rethinkaadhaar.in/blog/2026/1/5/…

Even before the Data Protection Act has been notified, it is being used to deny information related to PM Modi’s degree. Is this why the RTI law was amended through the Data Protection Act? Destroying people’s right to know in the name of data protection! #DelhiUniversity

Also, useful to remember that a long standing version of #DataProtection Bill was withdrawn, new version suddenly introduced & quickly passed with little debate, as opposition was protesting on #ManipurCrisis. The RTI amendment was surreptitiously inserted in this new version.

🚨Report card of Govt during #MonsoonSession - 6 Bills passed WITHOUT debate amid protests, almost ALL bills were passed with NO Opposition participation in either or both Houses!🚨 Why stop Opposition protest - Prime Minister (pic 1) We will pass Bills without you - Parliamentary Affairs Minister (pic 2) Glad that they have now publicly admitted that this was the Govt's strategy for the just concluded #MonsoonSession2025. See evidence👇 Govt let several days of #MonsoonSession get wasted through repeated adjournments because it kept avoiding debate on issues demanded by Opposition MPs, most prominent being #BiharSIR2025. Ofcourse, the narrative was that Opposition was not letting House function by protesting, but Govt itself didn't seem too keen to do anything to make House run. Govt uses repeated adjournments as excuse to pass Bills without debate or in absence of Opposition. This practice has been perfected over multiple #Parliament sessions. We have provided past examples here - x.com/maadhyam_engag…. See how this strategy played out in the #MonsoonSession2025. A total of 12 Bills were passed by #LokSabha and 15 Bills were passed / returned by #RajyaSabha. Of these ONLY 1 was scrutinised by a Select Committee of #Parliament. Bill wise status of Bills passed by both Houses: 1. Promotion and Regulation of #OnlineGaming Bill - passed by both Houses WITHOUT any debate (see LS thread here - x.com/maadhyam_engag…, see RS thread here - x.com/maadhyam_engag…) Time taken – 7 minutes in LS, 25 minutes in RS. 2. #IncomeTaxBill + Taxation Laws Amendment Bill – a 500+ clause Bill passed WITHOUT any debate, within 4 minutes in LS (see post here - x.com/maadhyam_engag…). Returned by RS within 1 hour 11 minutes, 8 MPs spoke, Opposition was not present. 3. IIM (Amendment) Bill – passed WITHOUT debate in LS. Time taken – 7 minutes. In RS, passed within 1 hour 19 minutes, 13 MPs spoke, Opposition was not present. 4. Mines and Minerals (Development and Regulation) Amendment Bill – passed within 30 minutes in LS, only 5 MPs spoke. Passed by RS within 2 hours 43 minutes, 19 MPs spoke, Opposition didn’t participate. 5. #Manipur Budget + Appropriation Bill + Manipur GST (Amendment) Bill – passed WITHOUT any debate in LS (see here - x.com/maadhyam_engag… x.com/maadhyam_engag…). In RS, passed within 43 minutes, only 5 MPs spoke (see here - x.com/maadhyam_engag…) #Parliament was passing these Bills related to Manipur because Manipur is under President’s Rule. In this session, Parliament also adopted the resolution to extend President’s Rule in Manipur. While in LS, it was adopted in 52 minutes, only 6 MPs spoke, in RS, it was adopted within just 11 minutes, only 2 MPs spoke. 6. National Sports Governance Bill 2025 + National Anti-Doping (Amendment) Bill – passed in LS within 34 minutes, only 2 MPs spoke (see here - x.com/maadhyam_engag…). Passed by RS within 2 hours 7 minutes, 18 MPs spoke, Opposition was not present. 7. Indian Ports Bill – passed within 23 minutes in LS, only 3 MPs spoke (see here - x.com/maadhyam_engag…). Passed by RS within 2 hours 11 minutes, 15 MPs spoke, Opposition was not present. 8. Coastal Shipping Bill – passed by LS in previous session. Passed by RS within 32 minutes, 9 MPs spoke. 9. Merchant Shipping Bill – passed within 20 minutes in LS, only 2 MPs spoke. Passed within 9 minutes in RS, only 1 MP spoke (see here - x.com/maadhyam_engag…). 10. Bills of Lading Bill – passed by LS in previous session. Passed within 1 hour 40 minutes in RS, 9 MPs spoke. 11. Carriage of Goods by Sea Bill - passed by LS in previous session. Passed by RS within 40 minutes, only 6 MPs spoke. 12. Readjustment of Representation of Scheduled Tribes in Assembly Constituencies of the State of Goa Bill – debate on Bill in LS happened in previous session but passed in this session, time taken in LS - 2 hours. Passed within 23 minutes in RS, only 3 MPs spoke (see here - x.com/maadhyam_engag…). 5 more Bills introduced in this session were referred to either Select or Joint #Parliament Committee instead of existing Standing Committees. Why? We have explained here - x.com/maadhyam_engag… Too much #democracy?

Gone in SEVEN minutes! On #OnlineGamingBill2025, the process of law making in #Parliament itself was reduced to a game 👏👏 Showing amazing speed, the #OnlineGamingBill, cleared by cabinet only yesterday, introduced in #LokSabha only hours ago, was just passed by the House, WITHOUT any debate, WITHIN 7 minutes. At 5.02pm, IT Minister Ashwini Vaishnav moved motion to consider and pass the Bill. He spoke for 4 minutes. At 5.06pm, Speaker asked protesting MPs to go back to their seat, to debate Bill. Then he immediately takes up Bill for consideration. On his motion to take up the Bill, a loud 'Nooooooooo' can be heard (see video). He still went ahead and put Bill to clause by clause vote. By 5.09pm, the Bill was passed! NO wasting time on sending bill to committee, debate and deliberation. Only speed, productivity and efficiency 👏👏 #Parliament #MonsoonSession2025

Mitron, #LokSabha just passed the 500+ clause #IncomeTaxBill WITHOUT any debate, within JUST 3 MINUTES 👏👏 (Must see video👇) But it didn't stop at that! Immediately after that, the Taxation Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2025 was also passed WITHOUT any debate, in next 1 MINUTE 👏👏 Oh, and before we forget to mention, both these Bills were introduced today itself, just 2 hours before being passed. They were added to the agenda of House through a supplementary list🤭 So, anyway, no MP would have gotten a chance to read the loooong bills, so they did away with debate altogether. Very convenient, no? During this, in background there were protests on #SIR, #VoteChori and chants of "Loktantra ki hatya bandh karo" (stop murdering #democracy), "Shame, Shame!" could be heard! But even this wasn't enough! Earlier at 2pm, National #Sports Governance Bill, 2025 + National Anti-Doping (Amendment) Bill, 2025 were passed within JUST 34 minutes👏👏 - Combined these Bills have 45+ clauses - Only 2 MPs spoke on the Bill - Minister alone spoke for ~14 mins - Voting went on for ~7 mins - Protests were going on in background - Opposition MPs had moved amendments, which were summarily dismissed as they were either protesting or not in House (can't be sure as Sansad TV doesn't show opposition MPs) Isn't #Parliament so efficient and productive today?

Rethink Aadhaar calls upon the Election Commission of India to immediately suspend the Special Intensive Revision of electoral rolls in Bihar which risks disenfranchising many particularly migrant workers, women, informal sector workers, rural poor rethinkaadhaar.in/blog/2025/7/7/…

Mr. Ashwini Vaishnaw claims the RTI Act remains protected under the DPDPA, citing Section 3. This is misleading. Section 44(3) directly amends Section 8(1)(j) of the RTI Act, removing the public interest test—a critical safeguard for transparency. Here’s a fact check from @internetfreedom 🧵(1/6)

ECI plans to link #Aadhaar with Voter ID for proper identification. Meanwhile, Amit Shah in #LokSabha, while responding to debate on Immigration and Foreigners Bill: "Those who illegally enter country, get #Aadhaar card and then voter card made." So, how will linking help?

Since 2022, the Fact Check Unit of Press Information Bureau: - Received 72914 queries, out of which - 22861 or 31% were found actionable, of which - 1575 or 6.8% identified as #fakenews This information was given in response to a Q asked in #LokSabha. For year-wise break up, see pic. But while answering this Q, the Govt completely ignored two sub-parts of the Q - - instances where such fact checking led to takedown of social media takedown; - whether independent, non-partisan fact checking unit is being considered Link for Q - sansad.in/getFile/loksab… #BudgetSession #Parliament

According to the response by minister @Food_Odisha today the number of pending applications is 6.80 lakh for 13.77 lakh members. The district wise pending applications. Total 29.16 lakh ration card holders are yet to do #ekyc in the state @OrissaRtf @12_baje

We have endorsed! And we urge you to endorse as well.

Over 30 civil society organisations are calling for a rollback of the Digital Personal Data Protection Act's provision which amended the Right to Information Act which they say curbs the rights & ability of journalists, activists, & lawyers, to access info, reports @annapurnarET

The Parliamentary Standing Committee on Rural Development, chaired by @saptagiriulaka, in its Demand for Grants report (2025-26), has recommended releasing MGNREGA funds to West Bengal, unjustly suspended by @MoRD_GoI for 3 consecutive FYs, fueling distress migration in the state

Response of Minster in Parliament - “Use of Aadhaar for issuance of mobile sim is not compulsory. Further there is also no requirement that a smartphone be linked to #Aadhaar All eligible beneficiaries can avail various Government scheme benefits without linking sim with Aadhaar”

#HeardinParliament While speaking on #Budget for #Manipur in #RajyaSabha, Sushmita Dev, AITC highlighted problems faced by people due to #internetshutdowns: - 212 days of shutdown, 5088 hours out of total of 7812 hours nationwide in #Manipur alone Short #Thread

Last week, we submitted our concerns & recommendations on Draft Digital Personal #DataProtection Rules, 2025 to Meity. Along with @no2uid, we submitted that many provisions in Rules go against the principles of #dataprotection. Read full submission- rethinkaadhaar.in/blog/2025/3/8/…

No hike in #MGNREGA allocation despite deficits & pending dues. Due to the lower allocation in FY24-25, persondays generated plummeted to 239cr from 312cr in FY23-24. Avg. work days/ household also dropped from 52.08 to 44.62. Truly a “gift” on NREGA Diwas. #BudgetSession2025

13 civil society groups & 142 individuals have urged India's IT Ministry to hold public, multilingual, hybrid consultations on the draft DPDP Rules and also to publish the received comments. medianama.com/2025/01/223-dp…

It is hoped that the Ministry will heed to these demands of the civil society stakeholders and undertake an inclusive consultation process which not limited to the industry only! #Thread Fin!

4. Publish all comments received on the draft Rules in full, with personal contact details of commenters removed, to enable a balance between transparency in the rule-making process and protection of personal data of commenters. Subsequently invite counter-comments.

Today 13 CSOs & 142 concerned citizens wrote to MeitY (@GoI_MeitY, @AshwiniVaishnaw) expressing concerns on consultation process on #DataProtection Rules, 2025. They urged the Ministry to follow inclusive processes & extend timeline. #Thread summarising demands. Full letter👇