The offices of some Union ministers are putting up notices banning visitors from bringing in mobile phones and pens. The AAP effect? Not likely, since the party is now industriously defanging itself. But likely, too, since it had tried to make sting culture mainstream, and almost succeeded.
Significantly, at least one minister has banned pens, some of which now come with spycams cunningly included, but neglected to keep out pen drives, which are very useful for decanting leaks into.
Following serious leaks, the intelligence agencies put smartphones and pen drives beyond the pale. That was a while ago, when pen cameras couldn’t be bought off the internet with a credit card, and agencies were rightly concerned about the theft of sensitive data. But exactly how much sensitive data is there in the office of the Ministry of Human Resource Development, which has set up a counter for collecting visitors’ cellphones? Or the office of the minister of state for agriculture, which has also banned pens? Lurid details of the disbursement of educational loans? Ruminations on the minimum support price for horse-gram?
Rather than a concern for data security, the ban on phones and pens in Union ministries speaks of a fear of being stung. In turn, that conveys the unfortunate suggestion that the government may not want to be open. The government which put green clearances online within a week of taking office should not also be sending out messages that can be read to mean that it has something to hide.
