Social Welfare In The Digital Age: How Internet Shutdowns Adversely Affect Social Welfare Schemes And Programs
Sumanth Kumar, LLM in Access to Justice from the Tata Institute of Social Sciences
ABSTRACT
India is a welfare state and, as such, has a primary responsibility to encourage the permeation of social welfare schemes aimed at dignifying the lives of marginalised individuals and groups. The progress of such populations is greatly dependent on the availability of digital resources and access to the Internet, as several social welfare schemes and programs have been digitalized in the recent past to improve efficiency and increase transparency. Unfortunately, lack of access to or knowledge regarding such resources, coupled with the unfettered, and often arbitrary, powers of the State to impose Internet shutdowns, may lead to a situation where such lofty goals remain unachievable. This study examines the nature of access to digital resources in India and its related challenges including those faced due to Internet shutdowns. Further, this study seeks to identify the lacunae in the current legal system that allows for such arbitrariness to thrive and the corresponding effects it has on welfare schemes aimed at improving the dignity of marginalised populations. The State ostensibly wishes to increase the efficiency of social welfare delivery; however, the sudden digitalization drive coupled with unrestricted powers to curb access to digital resources may lead to adversity and further marginalization of individuals and groups dependent on social welfare schemes.
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