Centre backtracks on Sanchar Saathi after outcry, says app not mandatory

Opposition calls it a 'snooping app', 'dictatorial' and a threat to the right to privacy

- VINAY KUMAR

The Centre moved to contain a fast-escalating political and public uproar over its directive to preload the Sanchar Saathi application on all smartphones, with Communications Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia on Tuesday clarifying that the app is not mandatory, can be deleted by users and will remain inactive unless they choose to register. The clarification came after intense criticism from Opposition parties, privacy advocates and industry players who allege that the order represents intrusive state overreach, lacks transparency and creates the potential for unprecedented monitoring of personal communication.

Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge called the move "dictatorial" and said that forcing an undeletable government app onto all citizens amounted to an attempt to "strangle the voice of the people." In a post on X, Kharge argued that the directive fits into a broader pattern of expanding state intrusion, citing changes to income tax laws, amendments to the RTI Act through the Digital Personal Data Protection Act 2023, and the Pegasus spyware allegations. He wrote that this was part of a "dystopian era" in which snooping, scanning and surveillance had become central characteristics. The Congress demanded that the order be rolled back immediately and said it infringed upon the fundamental right to privacy.

Senior Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra echoed these concerns, calling Sanchar Saathi a "snooping app" and asserting that no citizen would be comfortable with the government examining private communication under the pretext of fighting fraud. She said, "There is a very fine line between reporting fraud and seeing what every citizen of India is doing on their phone. That is not how it should work." She added that the government was refusing to allow parliamentary discussion on crucial issues and said this contributed to a climate that resembled authoritarian rule.