Smokescreen: Kejriwal must know apps don't save cities

Nowadays, Indian government officials believe an app can solve every ill that afflicts governance. If there is a law and order problem, it can be solved with a "safety app". If there is garbage problem, it can be solved with a "swachh" app.

Probably, that is why the Arvind Kejriwal government recently came out with an app that can tell Dilliwalas the location of the nearest winter shelter so that if they see someone in distress they can click the photo and pass it on to the government. The government promises it will rescue the homeless.

Apps are trendy. They are undoubtedly cool. Then there is the belief - mostly mistaken - that technology (smartphones, internet, etc) can solve big and fundamental problems. Even in Silicon Valley, people are smitten with the idea that world peace can be achieved with apps. So, for governments, coming out with an app and proclaiming it would save all of us from climate change, makes a lot of sense. It is always good PR and a great way to show that ministers are working even when the governance is down in doldrums.

Unfortunately, the app part is just obfuscation, shying away from responsibility. It is putting the onus on people instead of doing one's job. It is government's responsibility to find people in distress. Cops need to keep criminals away from the streets and not citizens, even if they are armed with apps. People can help. But not when everything is broken. Instead of asking Dilliwalas to click photos of garbage, the government should be cleaning open dumps that litter the city.

Apps may solve some problems but they can't eradicate poverty. Only good economic policy can do. Apps can't save women from goons on unlit Delhi roads. Only cops who are willing to register FIRs and do their job effectively can. Delhi can't be cleaned by the Swachh Delhi app. It can be cleaned only by municipal workers employed for the job.

Bill Gates, who knows a thing or two about both governance and technology, recently said it aptly while talking about universal web connectivity and Google's internet-beaming balloons. "When you're dying of malaria, I suppose you'll look up and see that balloon, and I'm not sure how it'll help you," he said. Our government may find it strange, but the reality is that some problems are too fundamental to be solved with help of apps.