Cong MP Renuka Chowdhury moves adjournment notice on Sanchar Saathi application issue

New Delhi: 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 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.

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.

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.