CHENNAI: Consumer activists and a section of rail passengers have raised eyebrows after it was made mandatory to download the Aarogya Setu app for travel in special trains. They fear it would bring asymptomatic travellers under surveillance.
“Now, both Right to Privacy and Right to Life enshrined in the constitution are violated. Acceptance for surveillance through an app cannot be made a prerequisite for using public transports. Travellers who have no symptoms will be monitored,” T Sadagopan, president of Tamil Nadu Progressive Consumers’ Centre said. He added that the move was condemnable and should be rolled back.
On Tuesday night, after IRCTC threw open the doors for booking tickets for 15 pairs of special trains, it stated that rail passengers must download the app. A senior official of Southern Railway said while checking e-tickets of passengers before allowing them enter the station, their mobile phones will be scrutinised by TTEs to ensure that they adhere to travel guidelines.
“Passengers who don’t have smartphones will have to call the toll free number to use the app,” he said. The official added that passengers who don’t use contact tracing app may not be allowed to travel. “However, as of now, migrant workers have been exempted.”
Naina Masilamani, former member of Divisional Rail Users Consultative Committee (DRUCC), Chennai, said, “While lockdown is till May 17, I suspect that the Centre hurriedly resumed train services only to bring people under surveillance through the app.”