CPI(M) MP raises concern over government email being operated by private entity

New Delhi, Sep 17 (PTI) CPI(M) MP John Brittas wrote to Rajya Sabha Chairman C P Radhakrishnan on Wednesday, raising concern over the Centre's decision to entrust the management and hosting of its official e-mail services and its multifactor authentication to a private corporation.

In a letter to Radhakrishnan, Brittas said the restructuring inevitably raises concerns about the independence, confidentiality and perceived impartiality of parliamentary communications, and claimed that 50 lakh government e-mail inboxes will be managed by the private firm.

"At a time when cybersecurity and the prevention of data theft are of utmost importance, even the official Sansad email system of MPs and that of the government officers are literally being handed over to a private entity, relegating NIC to a minor role," the Communist Party of India (Marxist) leader said in a post on X.

"Needless to say, Zoho Corporation, which will be the master system integrator with the 'OneAuth' authentication app, is closely aligned with the ideology of the BJP. Hitherto, NIC was the end-to-end custodian of the Sansad and Government Communication Network," he said.

In his letter to Radhakirshnan, the Rajya Sabha leader of the Left party said the Centre's decision to entrust the management and hosting of its official e-mail services and its multifactor authentication -- until now the preserve of the National Informatics Centre (NIC) -- to Zoho Corporation, a private entity, is "a matter that goes beyond routine governance and strikes at the very foundation of our institutional autonomy and parliamentary sovereignty".

He said while the NIC continues to set overarching policy under the Government Email Policy-2024, Zoho is now given the responsibility for the operational back-end, including authentication through its "OneAuth" application, marking the first time that such a core government e-mail service has been placed under private management.

"Assigning the management of the core operational infrastructure of the official email system poses serious risks to confidentiality and public interest," Brittas said.

He quoted the Government Email Policy-2024 and said e-mails are the primary means of communication for official purposes.

"It is reliably learnt that as many as 50 lakh government email inboxes will be managed by the private firm. Significantly, this transition includes the Executive branch as well as the official Sansad email system of Members of Parliament. Such restructuring inevitably raises concerns about the independence, confidentiality, and perceived impartiality of parliamentary communications," the CPI(M) leader said.

He said the official Sansad email system of the MPs has been subsumed under the new framework, with the NIC directing them to use a new website address being managed by Zoho and the "OneAuth" application developed by Zoho for multi-factor authentication.

"When such communications are routed through a privately-controlled back-end operations and an authentication system operated by a private firm, the independence of the Legislature stands, at the very least, exposed to risk of compromise," he said.

Brittas said the shift from the earlier domain, with the NIC's own "Kavach Authentication App" for multi-factor authentication to the new set up managed by Zoho as the master system integrator with its own "OneAut" application for multi-factor authentication, has altered this paradigm, adding that this transposes a core element of State and parliamentary control into corporate hands.

He also said the concerns are "further amplified" by the public perception of the ideological proximity between the said company's leadership and the ruling dispensation.

"With utmost respect and in the larger interest of preserving the sanctity of Parliament and its Members' independence, I urge that this matter be taken up with the urgency it deserves," he added. PTI AO RC