Yechury urges Modi to defer finalisation of Health Data Management Policy

Ravi S Singh
Tribune News Service
New Delhi, September 1

CPI(M) chief Sitaram Yechury urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi to defer the finalisation of the Health Data Management Policy (HDMP) and the National Digital Health Mission ( NDHM) till Parliament concludes its consideration of the Personal Data Protection (PDP) Bill, 2019.

In a letter to Modi, Yechury said the former’s intervention was required in the backdrop of comments sought by the Union government on HDMP by September 3, 2020.

“This needs to be postponed and no policy may be finalised before a structured discussion on the serious implications contained in this draft are considered,” Yechury said about the provisions in the draft of the HDMP

Such a discussion is imperative because the HDMP is part of the National Digital Health Mission (NDHM) that was announced by Modi on Independence Day 2020.

“Strangely, the government has sought comments on the HDMP in isolation and not the NDHM as a whole,” Yechury said in the letter.

The CPI(M) head raised apprehension about the government’s move, saying the NDHM proposes to collect sensitive personal data of all citizens which will then be made available to private insurance corporates and pharmaceutical companies.

Besides, Yechury’s objection is against the HDMP allegedly skipping any reference to PDP Bill, which is pending in Parliament.

The bill was introduced in Parliament following a marathon debate in the country on the protection of personal data in the context of surge of digitisation.

The Opposition parties also contextualised the vulnerability of data with national security.

“Infact the proposed HDMP has many provisions that amount to a serious dilution of the essence of the Bill before parliament i.e. regarding governance of data protection,” Yechury said.

Both the houses of Parliament have been convened to meet on September 14. It should discuss and consider the NDHM and the HDMP while it discusses the PDP Bill.