A day after political controversy erupted over reported directions to pre-install the Sanchar Saathi app on mobile handsets, Telecom Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia clarified that the app is optional, not mandatory, and can be deleted anytime if users wish. He stressed that Sanchar Saathi functions only after user activation, and downloading or enabling it is entirely the individual’s choice. Scindia added that the app’s sole purpose is to curb rising telecom-related frauds, not invade user privacy.
Earlier, reacting sharply to the reported move, Congress MP Priyanka Gandhi Vadra alleged the app amounted to a surveillance tool.
Calling Sanchar Saathi a “snooping app”, she said:
“It’s ridiculous. Citizens have the right to privacy… Everyone must have the right to send messages to family and friends without the government looking at everything. They are turning this country into a dictatorship in every form.”
She added that Parliament is not functioning because the government refuses to hold discussions, stressing that a healthy democracy demands debate.
“There’s a fine line between reporting fraud and watching what every citizen is doing on their phone… There should be an effective way to report fraud, but that doesn’t mean you enter every citizen’s telephone. I don’t think any citizen would be happy,” she said.
