NEW DELHI: A department of telecommunications ( DoT ) panel will come out with its report on net neutrality in the second week of May, telecom minister Ravi Shankar Prasad said Monday."We constituted a committee. We feel that Internet is the creation of human mind. Internet should have linkages to the common man in a non-discriminatory manner,” Prasad told reporters."This entire process will help the government make a comprehensive decision. That is why we are doing so independent of Trai . This is happening for the first time because of the gravity of the matter," he added.While there’s no clarity yet on the contents of the government report, Prasad has previously backed the principle of net neutrality which envisages that telecom service providers will treat all data on the Internet equally.The telecom department had set up a six-member internal panel to study the subject and come out with its report.The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai) has recently initiated a consultation paper on whether over-the-top services or apps, which are delivered over the network of mobile phone operators, should be licensed or regulated. The regulator has asked stakeholders to send in suggestions by April 24, while counter-arguments need to be submitted by May 8. Trai may then come out with its recommendations on the subject.The US Federal Communications Commission has backed net neutrality, saying the Internet should be treated as a public utility.The Indian political class jumped into the burning issue of net neutrality as well with Parliamentarians Tathagata Satpathy and Rajeev Chandrasekhar saying that any move to allow telecom operators to charge subscribers separately for using some apps would restrict people's access to Internet and go against the Prime Minister's vision of Digital India.Their comments come after recent moves by telcos to offer some apps for free to their users. Critics say the move is aimed at creating two types of Internet — free and paid — and goes against the principle of net neutrality. Telcos like Bharti Airtel, Reliance Communications, Uninor, Idea Cellular and Tata Teleservices have tie-ups in offering preferential access to a few apps. This in effect means that the app makers will pay for customer's free usage to the operator, while those who can't afford to pay won't get preferential access. The companies though deny any bias.