Should states have the incentives to have their own laws in data protection

If the Centre endorses states having the right to control access to their own records, it will also be forced to have a relook at the RTI Act, 2005

As India debates the requirement of a data protection law, an important issue that is not getting much attention is whether data protection is a subject on the state list, central list or the concurrent list. As per the constitution, legislative powers are distributed between the parliament and the state legislatures as per the scheme laid down in Schedule VII to the constitution.

This schedule contains three lists – only the parliament can enact laws for subject matters listed in List I, only state legislatures can enact laws for subject matters listed in List II and both can legislate