It’s official: The Centre walked back the order.
The mandate to smartphone manufacturers—even American tech giant Apple was reportedly prepping a legal challenge—to pre-install the Sanchar Saathi app? Gone.
The government line is that the rollback happened because the app is already succeeding. The number of users downloading it is “increasing rapidly”—over six lakh in 24 hours, $1.4\ \text{crore}$ users overall. The pre-installation “was meant to accelerate this process.” You know the drill.
But here’s the kicker: The rollback followed two straight days of protests. Serious concerns were raised. It was all about privacy violations. People were worried the app could be used to spy, echoing that nasty Pegasus spyware scandal.
Minister’s Defence vs. Opposition’s Fury
Communications Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia was out there defending the app. He said in Parliament today, what he said yesterday: “Snooping is neither possible nor will it happen.” He stressed that it’s secure, meant to help citizens against “bad actors,” and that citizens can remove it “like any other app.” That is their right in a democracy, he noted.
But the Opposition was absolutely incensed.
Jotting down the reaction:
Priyanka Gandhi Vadra (Congress): Called the initial order “ridiculous.” Said they are “turning this country into a dictatorship.”
Karti Chidambaram (Congress): Told NDTV this is what happens in Russia and North Korea. Worrying about “snoop[ing] on our private photos and videos.”
Priyanka Chaturvedi (Shiv Sena – Uddhav Faction): Called it “another BIG BOSS surveillance moment.”
The government said the success of the app is “based on public participation.” They said, “based on feedback from the public, we are ready to bring a change in the order.” That’s the diplomatic way of saying, “The public noise was too loud.”
Sanchar Saathi itself is just a security and awareness platform from the Department of Telecommunications (DoT). Available on Android and Apple. But the mandatory pre-installation? That crossed a line. And now they’ve retreated. The battle for digital privacy? It is clearly ongoing.
End….
