Bhubaneswar (Odisha) [India], December 5 : Political leaders have welcomed the Centre's decision to withdraw its directive mandating the pre-installation of the Sanchar Saathi app on all new smartphones, citing public concerns over privacy and surveillance.
BJD Vice President Prasanna Acharya said on Thursday that the move had triggered widespread apprehension among citizens.
"This created a lot of speculation and suspicion among the people of the country because we are an independent, democratic country. Every citizen has the freedom as allowed by the Constitution of India," he said.
"People apprehend that it will interfere with the privacy of the individuals, and all information of the individuals can be made available to the government when the government wants. The government has taken a wise decision by withdrawing this scheme," he added.
Meanwhile, the Ministry of Communications has withdrawn the mandatory pre-installation requirement following opposition from multiple parties and concerns raised over unchecked state surveillance. The app, aimed at enhancing cybersecurity and combating digital fraud, will continue to remain available for voluntary download.
Opponents argued that mandatory installation could infringe on consumer choice, despite the government's insistence that the app is secure, citizen-centric, and meant to protect users. Over 1.4 crore people have already downloaded Sanchar Saathi, which supports 21 Indian languages and allows users to verify device authenticity, report stolen phones and block suspicious connections.
In addition, Congress leader Salman Khurshid also criticised the earlier mandate, calling for wider consultation.
"What is the need for so much surveillance of everything in this country?" he said.
"If we assume that everyone will make a mistake, and they already have, then what kind of atmosphere will prevail in this country? You call it voluntary now, and who knows how soon it will be made involuntary? There should have been a discussion about this app first before making any decisions," Khurshid added.
The government has reiterated that the app is designed solely to help citizens protect themselves against cyber fraud. "It helps in 'Jan bhagidari' by all citizens in reporting on such bad actors and actions while protecting users themselves. There is no other function other than protecting the users in the app, and they can remove the app whenever they want. This has been clarified by the Government," the Ministry said in a statement.