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The Gujarat government has taken another step towards realising the vision of Digital India by constituting a Departmental Data Committee (DDC) in the Agriculture, Farmers' Welfare and Cooperation Department to safeguard farmers' data.
According to the Chief Minister's Office on Thursday, aligned with the provisions of the Government of India's Digital Personal Data Protection Act, 2023 (DPDP Act), the State Government has taken measures to safeguard farmers' personal, financial and agriculture-related data, ensuring that it is used only with their consent and in accordance with the prescribed regulations. The Departmental Data Committee (DDC) will oversee the scientific, secure and transparent management of data across the Agriculture Department, its affiliated boards, corporations and agricultural universities. In the digital era, farmers' data is as valuable as their land and crops. Safeguarding this data will ensure that the benefits of government schemes reach eligible beneficiaries while minimising the scope for fraud and misuse. The Committee will be led by the Additional Chief Secretary, Principal Secretary or Secretary of the Agriculture, Farmers' Welfare and Cooperation Department. Its members will include the Departmental Data Officer, Member Secretary, Chief Information Security Officer (CISO), Deputy Director (IT), ICT Officer, Legal Officer, IT Expert, and the heads of all boards, corporations, agricultural universities and subordinate offices under the department. The Agriculture Department will classify all its datasets into five categories: Open, Shareable, Restricted, Sensitive and Negative List. This will enable the sharing of useful information, such as weather updates, farming techniques, and market prices, with farmers, while keeping their personal, banking, and other confidential information fully protected under the Sensitive category. The committee will ensure that farmers' data is managed in accordance with the Digital Personal Data Protection Act, 2023 (DPDP Act) and other applicable government regulations. This will safeguard farmers' personal information against unauthorised use while ensuring strong legal protection for data security. The new framework gives top priority to Consent Management. Farmers' data will be used only with their consent, and a secure, auditable and traceable record of every consent will be maintained. Any violation of consent-related provisions will be reported immediately to the State Data Authority (SDA). The committee will continuously monitor farmers' data for any security incident or data breach. Any such incident will be reported immediately to the State Chief Data Officer and other competent authorities for prompt action, ensuring strong protection of farmers' data. Access to secure and authenticated data will support better research and informed decision-making in the agriculture sector. This will help make farmer welfare schemes more effective, targeted and responsive to farmers' actual needs. The new system will ensure that farmers' personal, banking and other sensitive information remains fully secure. Strong data governance will help prevent data misuse, unauthorised access and cyber threats. Agricultural policies and welfare schemes will be developed using authentic data and scientific analysis. The distribution of agricultural subsidies, crop insurance, disaster relief and other government assistance will become more transparent, efficient and accurate. As a result, government benefits will reach all eligible farmers promptly. (ANI)
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