Roadmap for Innovation and Industry Reconstruction; Telecom Bill

Things have definitely changed ever since the Central Government changed back in 2014 when Narendra Modi came to power with a thumping majority, which is the first time in three decades when a political party came to power with a complete majority ever since the Congress Party won with the maximum number of votes in 1984.

However, it needs to be mentioned that, Congress winning in 1984 and Rajiv Gandhi becoming Prime Minister was largely due to the massive sympathy wave due to Indira Gandhi’s assassination but Narendra Modi-led BJP was largely due to merit and the massive corruption scandals of the Congress-led UPA government from 2004-2014.

Now, even in 2022, the current government refuses to show signs of slowing down with Modi’s popularity growing manifolds all across the globe with each passing day.

With the latest news coming out, things are truly getting better and better with Telecom Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw announcing the new Telecom Bill for industry reconstruction and innovation.

Brief Summary

Mr. Vaishnaw has claimed at a Public Affairs Forum India Event that the new Telecom Bill will bring up a clear roadmap for reconstructing industries, innovation, and infrastructure. He has vouched that in the next 2 to 3 years the digital regulatory framework will be completely revamped.

The bill will balance rights of individuals, societal objectives, technological framework, among others. Vaishnaw opines that technology keeps upgrading with the passage of time where you need reconstruction but the Telecom Ministry was unsure as to how to put that in a bill because if reconstruction has to happen, everything has to be taken into consideration.

PM Modi has asked the telecom ministry to set a target for globally benchmarking the digital legal regulatory framework of the country for which the digital industry needs a comprehensive set of legislations.

The telecom bill has been drafted and also includes Over-the-Top (OTT) platforms as part of the telecommunications service where there is a provision to waive of penalty and fees of internet service providers.

Ashwini Vaishnaw concluded the event by claiming that the next quarter of a century will become a period of inclusive growth where investment will be the proverbial tool for growth where the main focus will be creativity, innovation, manufacturing, organizing, reformed rules and regulations, education and health infrastructure, among others.

While the roadmap has been put out, it remains to be seen as to how successful the endeavor will be but given the track record of the current central government, one can very well see that they will come out with flying colours.

Also Read: Department of Telecom Consults TRAI on Regulating OTT Services