Dear Sir / Madam,

I run a small business working with handloom weavers and block printers. We use applications like whatsapp, gmail, instagram, twitter to communicate with each other and with our clients. These are a boon to our livelihoods and are central to our business. These help us immensely. If we are charged for using these applications or if access to the internet were to be controlled by the telecom companies, our cost of business would escalate and we will struggle to make ends meet.

 

The internet is a free space. Anyone can bridge a knowledge barrier with access to information the internet. Even those without access to formal education or vocational training can improve themselves and their lives by using the information available freely on the internet with apps like youtube. Putting a price on this access creates a great wall and firmly entrenches the digital divide. Bridging the digital divide for equal access to knowledge and information is the key to social and economic development. We need a policy that keeps the internet neutral in order to achieve this.

 

We do not ask the government to help us. We merely ask the government not to support policies that enrich corporates at the expense of ordinary people. This is a government of the people, by the people and for the people. I implore the government to work for the people and create a framework that will keep the internet neutral and out of the clutches of telecom companies 

 

A very concerned and disillusioned citizen

Vidyuth