My experience with and observations of the march towards a digital administration make me very apprehensive of the risks of exclusion and coercion inherent in any application which demands e-connectivity on the part of the citizen (“Digital India to bring investment in ‘billions’, June 28). In the name of electronic governance, the administration of many public services has already taken a grossly undemocratic turn without getting questioned or even noticed.
The government needs to assure us that while the administration uses digital technology to aid those of us who are connected and interested in it, it does not close the door on the less privileged or ends up stamping a de jure exclusion on those already de facto excluded. While public services are already grossly discriminatory and exclusionary, the move by the government to invite the private sector in advancing the digital mission is only likely to add further to their democratic deficit. We need a legal framework which guarantees full, non-coercive and privacy-protected participation to all persons irrespective of their digital connectivity before reposing confidence in the government’s moves.
Firoz Ahmad,New Delhi
