Selfie points: Centre defends decision behind the initiative in Delhi High Court

The Central Government Friday asserted the selfie system is a gift of technology which helps familiarise the public about government schemes and policies in a cost effective way Before the Delhi High Court the central government defended its decision to install selfie points in public places to publicise its defence policy initiativesIt rejected suggestions about there being any political motive behind the selfie points and said there was no mention of any political party or insignia at such programmes The selfie points it said only highlighted the achievements in the defence sector like inclusion and active participation of women in the armed forces and the Agnipath schemeThe Centre made the submissions before a bench headed by Acting Chief Justice Manmohan which was hearing a PIL against the alleged use of public servants and defence personnel to spread political propaganda by showcasing the achievements of the government in the last nine yearsPetitioners EAS Sarma and Jagdeep S Chhokar alleged several selfie points were being installed by the government with directions to soldiers to promote the work done by the Ministry of Defence MoD and public servants were being deployed as special officers for Viksit Bharat Sankalp Yatra to canvass for the ruling party in the upcoming elections in violation of service rules and Representation of the People ActSelfie point is costing Rs 6 lakh and they are installing in all railway stations Advocate Pranav Sachdeva appearing for the petitioners submittedThe exercise he claimed was being used to run the ruling partys political campaign with public money and was distorting the level playing fieldIt is a political campaign and political speeches are being made on the platform Each selfie point has a huge placard of the prime ministers photo Sachdeva saidAlso read Kejriwalrsquos lsquoreal facersquo exposed BJP after LG orders CBI probeThe bench also comprising Justice Manmeet P S Arora said the measures being called into question did not make a reference to any political party and they involved only propagating the governments schemesIt said the prime minister who is elected by the people and may be a political rival to someone also holds a constitutional postGovernment is run by someone in power and it propagates the scheme Thats a hard fact of reality A person is elected by the people There is no denying the fact that he is holding a constitutional post He may be someones political rival also but he is holding a post Justice Manmohan saidThere is no political insignia He is only propagating schemes of the government As per the government 25 crore people attended health camp around 10 lakh people were screened for TB Twenty lakh people screened for sickle cell anaemia as part of the measures in questionIf officers and armymen are doing this then they are propagating a scheme he saidAdditional Solicitor General Chetan Sharma told the bench the government of India was committed to ensuring that the benefit of its flagship schemes reach the targeted beneficiaries in a timebound manner and the Viksit Bharat Sankalp Yatra aimed at ensuring lastmile outreach of all its welfare schemesTerming the PIL as motivated ASG Sharma objected to the petitioner raising the issue of alleged expenditure of Rs 6 lakh in setting up each selfie booth at railway stations asserting it was outside the ambit of the present proceedingsSharma said the selfie booths highlighting the achievements in the defence sector were installed to inspire and instill a sense of pride Various other schemes were being promoted during the Sankalp Yatra to attain full saturation in terms of reaching their benefits to the intended beneficiariesThis outreach has to be there It cant be some office memorandum in New Delhi Now that Agniveer and womens participation is there the natural corollary is that you have to reach out to them people and inspire them to join In addition to eliciting participation of people in a novel way the selfie points are cost effectiveWe are familiarising public with governments schemes and polices Engagement in selfie system is a gift of technology and lets make use of it The physical construct of selfie points enables people to engage effectively thereby having a greater impact Sharma submittedHe also said at this stage there was a reference to nine years that being the duration for which the present dispensation has been in power while promoting the welfare schemesWe have addressed that reference to nine years The mention of nine years was at that time in October There is no mention of nine years now This holds the field now ASG Sharma saidThe counsel for the Election Commission said the poll panel has already issued instructions about the prohibition on advertisements funded by public money and misuse of mass media when the model code of conduct is in place during electionsThe bench listed the matter for further hearing on January 30 and asked the Centre to put its stand on recordThe petitioners have claimed deployment of public servants to showcase the governments achievements for a political purpose disturbs free and fair elections which are an essential part of democracyCentres brazen move referred to above has wider implications Firstly considering that the campaign to showcase the NDA governments achievements for the time being will extend up to 25012024 it will amount to deploying civil servants and public resources to influence the voters even during the 2024 Parliament elections the petition said With inputs from PTI