The Centre on January 5 defended before the Delhi High Court its decision to install “selfie points” in public places for promotion of its defence policy initiatives, saying it helps familiarise the public about government schemes and policies.
“We are familiarising public with the government’s schemes and policies. Engagement in selfie system is a gift of technology and let’s make use of it. The physical construct of selfie points enables people to engage effectively, thereby having a greater impact,” Additional Solicitor General (ASG) Chetan Sharma told the court.
The Centre made the submissions before the court which was hearing a public interest litigation (PIL) petition against the use of public servants and defence personnel for promotion of government schemes and policies.
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The petitioners, former bureaucrat E.A.S. Sarma and former IIM Ahmedabad Dean, Jagdeep S Chhokar, in their plea challenged communications issued by the Controller General of Defence Accounts on October 9, 2023 and the Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT) on October 17, 2023 to publicise the government’s development activities.
The Controller General of Defence Accounts had asked various departments such as the DRDO, Sainik School, NCC to develop ‘selfie-points’ at prominent locations on the themes of their achievements.
Special officers
The DoPT, in its communication, had decided to deploy public servants as special officers for showcasing the achievements of the last nine years of the Government of India in “Viksit Bharat Sankalp Yatra” to be organised across the country from November 20, 2023 to January 25, 2024.
ASG Mr. Sharma told the court the “Viksit Bharat Sankalp Yatra” was aimed at ensuring “last-mile” outreach of all government welfare schemes.
The ASG raised an objection to the petitioner’s counsel bringing up the issue of the alleged expenditure of ₹6 lakh for each selfie booth installation at railway stations, asserting that it fell outside the scope of the current proceedings.
Advocate Pranav Sachdeva, representing the petitioners, said, “It is a political campaign and political speeches are being made on the platform. Each selfie point has a huge placard of the Prime Minister’s photo”.
The court stated that the measures under scrutiny did not specifically mention any political party and solely focused on promoting the government’s schemes. “There is no political insignia... no political person or political party used,” it said.
“The government is run by someone in power and it propagates the scheme. That’s a hard fact of reality. A person is elected by the people. There is no denying the fact that he is holding a constitutional post. He may be someone’s political rival also, but he is holding a post,” the court said.
The High Court listed the case for further hearing on January 30.
