New Delhi [India], December 3 : Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) MP Mahua Maji on Wednesday slammed the Centre over the Sanchar Saathi app row, saying that the government has lost its reliability.
Speaking to ANI, Maji linked the directive to mandatorily pre-install the Sanchar Saathi app on mobile phones to the Pegasus surveillance software, highlighting a privacy breach.
She said, "The government has lost its reliability. Pegasus became an issue some time ago. They toppled democratically elected governments."
The Department of Telecommunications (DoT) has mandated that the mobile handsets must have the pre-installed Sanchar Saathi application readily visible and accessible to end users at the time of first use or device setup, and its functionalities must not be disabled or restricted, the Ministry of Communications said in a statement Monday evening.
On Tuesday, the opposition leaders sharply criticised the government's directive, alleging it amounts to mass surveillance and an intrusion into citizens' privacy, while Union Minister for Communications Jyotiraditya Scindia maintained that activation of the app is not mandatory, and it is fully up to the consumers to use it or delete it.
Further, as the Centre agreed to discuss the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in the Parliament on December 9, Mahua Maji said that the government should have come to an accord earlier so that two days of Parliament's functioning would not have been "wasted".
She said, "The Parliament should function, and the government should take the opposition along. Two days have been wasted by the government. They had said that they would hold discussions on the issues raised by us. They should have agreed when the opposition was demanding and protesting. Two days would not have been wasted, and Question Hour, Zero Hour, and Special Mention would have been good."
"MPs are disheartened when they don't get the opportunity to raise issues of their constituencies. Today we have a meeting of the opposition parties where we will decide our strategy for the day," the JMM MP added.
Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju informed that during the All Party Meeting Chaired by Lok Sabha Speaker, it was decided to hold a discussion in Lok Sabha on the 150th Anniversary of the National Song 'Vande Mataram' on December 8 and and discussion on election reforms on December 9.
The INDIA bloc floor leaders will meet at 9:45 am today in Parliament to chalk out their floor strategy, as the winter session enters its third day.
Opposition parties, including the Congress, have mounted sustained protests since the beginning of the winter session of Parliament, demanding discussion on the SIR exercise, which is being conducted across 12 States and Union Territories.