Sanchar Saathi App Can Be Useful: Shashi Tharoor Amid Congress’s Objection To ‘Big Brother’ Move

Last Updated:December 02, 2025, 12:38 IST

Shashi Tharoor said, “Common sense tells me that these apps can be useful provided they are voluntary...I need to look more into the logic of the government.”

Congress MP Shashi Tharoor said Tharoor said the government should explain their idea. (File)

Even as the Congress has been protesting against Department of Telecommunications’ (DoT) directions to pre-install the Sanchar Saathi app on mobile handsets, Congress MP Shashi Tharoor said it “could be useful if voluntary".

The Congress has criticised the directions of the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) on pre-installation of the Sanchar Saathi app in new mobile handsets as unconstitutional, and demanded its immediate rollback.

Tharoor said, “Common sense tells me that these apps can be useful provided they are voluntary. Everyone who needs them should be able to download them. Making anything compulsory in a democracy is troubling. I need to look more into the logic of the government."

The DoT direction said all manufacturers and importers of mobile handsets that are intended for use in India shall submit compliance reports to the DoT within 120 days from the issuance of these directions.

Failure to comply with these directions shall attract action under the Telecommunications Act, 2023, the Telecom Cyber Security Rules, 2024 (as amended), and other applicable laws. These directions shall come into force immediately and shall remain in force until amended or withdrawn by the DoT, the communique said.

Tharoor said the government should explain their idea. “The government should explain everything to the public instead of just passing an order via media reports. We need to have a discussion where the government reports the idea behind the decision," he said.

Congress MP Renuka Chowdhury has filed an adjournment motion notice in the Rajya Sabha seeking suspension of business to discuss the government’s directions on installation of the Sanchar Saathi App in new mobile handsets.

The party MP has demanded a discussion under Rule 267 which calls for setting aside all other business to take up the matter.

In her adjournment notice, the party MP said, “The Right to Privacy is an intrinsic facet of the fundamental right to life and personal liberty, guaranteed under Article 21 of the Constitution. The Department of Telecommunications’ circular directing smartphone manufacturers and importers to pre-load the “Sanchar Saathi" application in a manner that cannot be deleted constitutes a grave affront to this fundamental right".

“Such a mandate enables pervasive surveillance and threatens to place every movement, interaction, and decision of citizens under constant watch, without adequate safeguards or parliamentary oversight," Chowdhury said.

“I, therefore, demand an adjournment of all business of the House to take up an urgent discussion on this critical issue affecting the rights and liberties of our citizens," she said in her notice.

Congress general secretary K C Venugopal had said on Monday that the right to privacy is an intrinsic part of the fundamental right to life and liberty. “Big Brother cannot watch us. This DoT direction is beyond unconstitutional. The Right to Privacy is an intrinsic part of the fundamental right to life and liberty, enshrined in Article 21 of the Constitution.

“A pre-loaded government app that cannot be uninstalled is a dystopian tool to monitor every Indian. It is a means to watch over every movement, interaction and decision of each citizen," Venugopal had said in a post on X.

With PTI Inputs

News politics Sanchar Saathi App Can Be Useful: Shashi Tharoor Amid Congress’s Objection To ‘Big Brother’ Move

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