CTR215 | Technology, Rights and Democratic Governance

This course explores the growing influence of digital technologies on governance and its implications for access to rights, accountability, transparency and civil liberties. This course will move the analysis of the role and design of digital technology for “public good” away from the dominant lens of regulatory frameworks, technocratic goals and institutional constraints. Instead the course will take a bottom-up approach by focusing on how the people most impacted by these digital systems interact with and view these technologies to answer the same urgent question of our times- how can digital technology be used to enhance the quality and equitability of development outcomes? The course will introduce students to key debates in the use of digital technology for accountability in delivering welfare and the political economy of digital governance in India. It then highlights through cases such as land digitization (Bhumi), mobile based attendance monitoring (NMMS) and drone-monitoring for NREGA, digital payments (DBT), grievance redress platforms (CP-GRAMS)-how digital systems, intended for transparency and efficiency, can result in exclusion, denial of rights, and the erosion of democratic processes. The course however does not stop at critique but examines concrete alternatives in each case, that centre the values and principles of democracy and freedom. Drawing on insights from social science, law, public policy, and digital humanities, students will engage critically and creatively with the politics of digital governance. Classroom discussions and case-study based assignments will bring in the voices and experiences of programme beneficiaries, bureaucrats, coders, and frontline workers-those who design, implement and those who these digital systems are designed to serve.