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During the recess, the Departmentally Related Standing Committees of Parliament examine the Demand for Grants submitted by various Ministries. The Demand for Grants are detailed explanations of that Ministry's annual budget which form part of the total budget of the government. These are examined in detail, and the committees can approve of the demands, or suggest changes. The Demand for Grants are finally discussed and voted on by the Parliament after the recess. (The post below lists the ministries whose Demand for Grants will be discussed in detail after the recess). The issue is - how effective is the institution of Parliament in examining the budget? Though India specific information on this subject is hard to find, K. Barraclough and B. Dorotinsky have cited the World Bank - OECD Budget procedures Database to formulate a table on the legislature approving the budget presented by the executive ("The Role of the Legislature in the Budget Process: A Comparative Review", Legislative Oversight and Budgeting). I reproduce the table below:
In Practice, does the legislature generally approve the budget as presented by the Executive? (in percent) | ||||
Answer | All Countries | OECD Countries | Presidential democracies | Parliamentary democracies |
It generally approves the budget with no changes | 34 | 33 | 14 | 41 |
Minor changes are made (affecting less than 3% of total spending) | 63 | 67 | 71 | 59 |
Major changes are made (affecting more than 3% but less than 20% of total spending) | 2 | 0 | 7 | 0 |
The budget approved is significantly different (affecting more than 20% of total spending) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Sources: K. Barraclough and B. Dorotinsky; PRS. |
On June 6, 2022, the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology released the draft amendments to the Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules, 2021 (IT Rules, 2021) for public feedback. The IT Rules were notified on February 25, 2021, under the Information Technology Act, 2000 (IT Act). The Ministry noted that there is a need to amend the Rules to keep up with the challenges and gaps emerging in an expanding digital ecosystem. In this blog post, we give a brief background to the IT Rules, 2021 and explain the key proposed changes to the Rules.
Background to the IT Rules, 2021
The IT Act exempts intermediaries from liability for user-generated content on their platform provided they meet certain due diligence requirements. Intermediaries are entities that store or transmit data on behalf of other persons and include telecom and internet service providers, online marketplaces, search engines, and social media sites. IT Rules specify the due diligence requirements for the intermediaries. These include: (i) informing users about rules and regulations, privacy policy, and terms and conditions for usage of its services, including types of content which are prohibited, (ii) expeditiously taking down content upon an order from the government or courts, (iii) providing a grievance redressal mechanism to resolve complaints from users about violation of Rules, and (iv) enabling identification of the first originator of the information on its platform under certain conditions. It also specifies a framework for content regulation of online publishers of news and current affairs and curated audio-visual content. For an analysis of the IT Rules 2021 please see here.
Key changes proposed to the IT Rules 2021
Key changes proposed by the draft amendments are as follows:
Comments on the draft amendments are invited until July 6, 2022.