The Supreme Court on Monday told the Centre that its policymakers must have an ear to ground and "smell the coffee" to take into account the digital divide as they made it mandatory for people between 18 to 45 years to register on CoWIN app to get vaccinated for Covid-19.
The top court says the government must change its policy to consider the hardship of the rural population.
“You must smell the coffee and see what is happening across the country," the bench told Solicitor General Tushar Mehta.
"How are you answering the digital divide? You keep on saying digital India, digital India but the situation is actually different in rural areas. How will an illiterate labourer, from Jharkhand get registered in Rajasthan," the bench further asked the officer.
The law officer pointed out there was a constraint of human and infrastructural resources. It was therefore considered prudent not to permit walk-in registration for 18-45 years.
"Citizens who don't have access to internet can take help from friends and relatives. Online registration decision has been taken since vaccines are not unlimited and if walk-in is allowed, then there will be crowding. But now walk-in is allowed," he said.
The court stressed that the Centre’s vaccination policy should not be carved in stone, rather it should evolve based on the ground situation.
Citing technical glitches on CoWIN application used for registration for vaccination, the bench said they had received distress calls from Bengaluru, Kochi and places all over the country, as slots got booked within two minutes.
The bench suggested Centre must know the ground situation and change its policy accordingly. “If we had to do it, we would have done it 15-20 days back," the bench said.