The Importance of Unelected Experts in Crucial Ministries: Chidambaram's Critique of Vaishnaw

"Why do we need unelected experts to run important government ministries?" questioned P. Chidambaram, a leader from the Congress party. He seemed to be taking a jab at Ashwini Vaishnaw, the Union minister responsible for Railways, Communications, and Electronics and Information Technology, in relation to the Odisha rail tragedy and an alleged breach of data from the CoWIN platform.

Chidambaram expressed his dismay at how Vaishnaw and his ministries operate. He highlighted that the minister and his officers appeared unaware of critical reports and letters regarding the Balasore tragedy, such as the ones submitted by the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) in December 2022 and the Principal Chief Operations Manager's letter in February 2023.

Referring to the CoWIN data leak, Chidambaram claimed that it exposed the false assurance that the personal data of millions of Indians were secure and protected. He also criticized the government's alleged pressure on Twitter to block or delete tweets/accounts, as well as the threats of involving the Income Tax department and making arrests. These actions, according to him, undermined the independence of investigating agencies.

Chidambaram further questioned the need for unelected individuals labeled as "experts" to oversee such crucial ministries, which he believes only bring suffering to the people.

On a different note, Twitter co-founder Jack Dorsey accused the Indian government of attempting to shut down the platform unless it complied with orders to restrict accounts during the farmers' protest. However, Minister of State for IT, Rajeev Chandrasekhar, dismissed this accusation as a complete falsehood.

There have been concerns raised about the breach of data from the CoWIN platform, and opposition parties have demanded appropriate action from the government. The government, on its part, has dismissed these reports as baseless and malicious, reiterating that the CoWIN portal maintains strong safeguards for data privacy.

Opposition parties have also criticized the government for the train accident in Balasore district, Odisha, which claimed the lives of 288 individuals.