Skip to main content

Want to write to Gujarat chief minister online? Govt site takes you to Anandiben Patel's personal, copyrighted site!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4rhSzb9qtD8&app=desktop
gujaratindia.com, which takes one to CM's copyrighted site
By A Representative
In an interesting expose, an upcoming political activist in Ahmedabad has brought to light that Gujarat chief minister Anandiben Patel wants people to write to her online on any issues they may have not on a Gujarat government website but her personal website, anandibenpatel.com.
Anyone visiting the Gujarat government’s official state portal, http://gujaratindia.com/, and clicking on Chief Minister in the section “Important Functionaries” is taken to her complete profile page, which includes her contact details, her past and present activities, and her lifestyle.
However, as one clicks on “Write to Smt. Anandiben Patel”, one is immediately shifted away from the Gujarat government’s official site to the chief minister’s personal site, whose address is http://anandibenpatel.com/write-to-cm-smt-anandiben-patel/.
Curious though it may sound, the Gujarat government does not seem to “own” its chief minister, Anandiben Patel’s website, either: On the right hand side corner of the site prominently displays “© 2015 Smt Anandiben Patel. All Rights Reserved.”
This stands in sharp contrast to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s personal website, www.narendramodi.in, which does not carry any copyright tag. Modi’s website was created when Gujarat chief minister. It is not known if Patel is aware of the nuance involved.
It is noteworthy that the “copyrighted” website carries the official information about the official functions of the chief minister, and her activities under the banner of “Gateesheel Gujarat”, which she envisaged after Patel became Gujarat chief minister, and this includes the Gruh Yojna for the urban poor, the metro rail project, open defecation free Gujarat, implementation of revenue reforms, and so on.
http://anandibenpatel.com/write-to-cm-smt-anandiben-patel/
Want to write to chief minister? Visit her personal site
While it is not known if someone who seeks to use this copyrighted material will invite legal action, the activist, Roshan Shah, who is also a software engineer, in a written complaint to senior Gujarat government officials – both administrative and police – has questioned as to why “write to chief minister” data and information “is captured on a personal site.”
“Any citizen who is writing to the chief minister is writing to the chief minister under the pretext and assumption that the representation made and so the record is part of official government representation, but it is clearly evident that any representation done on this form is not going to be part of government record and it will have no relevance when Patel will not be the chief minister”, Shah says in his plea.
Shah further states, “Content on anandibenpatel.com site is state subject and it has featured events and programmes promoted by state government and much of the content is exclusively found on this site.” He wonders as to who owns this site, who is paying for it, and whether its control will be “retained by state government” once she is not the chief minister.
Shah also asks, as to who is “paying for content creation (text, videos, audio) etc.” of the site, and how much has been “paid till date to whom and by what means”, adding, “Who is in charge of uploading the content and how much had been paid till date to whom and by what means?”
He has also wished to know if there is a government resolution (GR) under which the copyrighted site of the chief minister exists. Displaying the contents of how gujaratindia.com takes one to the chief minister’s personal site, anandibenpatel.com on Youtube (October 15), Shah alleges, asking people to write to her on her personal site “violates citizens’ privacy and does breach of trust.”

Comments

TRENDING

Grueling summer ahead: Cuttack’s alarming health trends and what they mean for Odisha

By Sudhansu R Das  The preparation to face the summer should begin early in Odisha. People in the state endure long, grueling summer months starting from mid-February and extending until the end of October. This prolonged heat adversely affects productivity, causes deaths and diseases, and impacts agriculture, tourism and the unorganized sector. The social, economic and cultural life of the state remains severely disrupted during the peak heat months.

Stronger India–Russia partnership highlights a missed energy breakthrough

By N.S. Venkataraman*  The recent visit of Russian President Vladimir Putin to India was widely publicized across several countries and has attracted significant global attention. The warmth with which Mr. Putin was received by Prime Minister Narendra Modi was particularly noted, prompting policy planners worldwide to examine the implications of this cordial relationship for the global economy and political climate. India–Russia relations have stood on a strong foundation for decades and have consistently withstood geopolitical shifts. This is in marked contrast to India’s ties with the United States, which have experienced fluctuations under different U.S. administrations.

From natural farming to fair prices: Young entrepreneurs show a new path

By Bharat Dogra   There have been frequent debates on agro-business companies not showing adequate concern for the livelihoods of small farmers. Farmers’ unions have often protested—generally with good reason—that while they do not receive fair returns despite high risks and hard work, corporate interests that merely process the crops produced by farmers earn disproportionately high profits. Hence, there is a growing demand for alternative models of agro-business development that demonstrate genuine commitment to protecting farmer livelihoods.

The Vande Mataram debate and the politics of manufactured controversy

By Vidya Bhushan Rawat*  The recent Vande Mataram debate in Parliament was never meant to foster genuine dialogue. Each political party spoke past the other, addressing its own constituency, ensuring that clips went viral rather than contributing to meaningful deliberation. The objective was clear: to construct a Hindutva narrative ahead of the Bengal elections. Predictably, the Lok Sabha will likely expunge the opposition’s “controversial” remarks while retaining blatant inaccuracies voiced by ministers and ruling-party members. The BJP has mastered the art of inserting distortions into parliamentary records to provide them with a veneer of historical legitimacy.

A comrade in culture and controversy: Yao Wenyuan’s revolutionary legacy

By Harsh Thakor*  This year marks two important anniversaries in Chinese revolutionary history—the 20th death anniversary of Yao Wenyuan, and the 50th anniversary of his seminal essay "On the Social Basis of the Lin Biao Anti-Party Clique". These milestones invite reflection on the man whose pen ignited the first sparks of the Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution and whose sharp ideological interventions left an indelible imprint on the political and cultural landscape of socialist China.

The cost of being Indian: How inequality and market logic redefine rights

By Vikas Gupta   We, the people of India, are engaged in a daily tryst—read: struggle—for basic human rights. For the seemingly well-to-do, the wish list includes constant water supply, clean air, safe roads, punctual public transportation, and crime-free neighbourhoods. For those further down the ladder, the struggle is starker: food that fills the stomach, water that doesn’t sicken, medicines that don’t kill, houses that don’t flood, habitats at safe distances from polluted streams or garbage piles, and exploitation-free environments in the public institutions they are compelled to navigate.

Why India must urgently strengthen its policies for an ageing population

By Bharat Dogra   A quiet but far-reaching demographic transformation is reshaping much of the world. As life expectancy rises and birth rates fall, societies are witnessing a rapid increase in the proportion of older people. This shift has profound implications for public policy, and the need to strengthen frameworks for healthy and secure ageing has never been more urgent. India is among the countries where these pressures will intensify most sharply in the coming decades.

Thota Sitaramaiah: An internal pillar of an underground organisation

By Harsh Thakor*  Thota Sitaramaiah was regarded within his circles as an example of the many individuals whose work in various underground movements remained largely unknown to the wider public. While some leaders become visible through organisational roles or media attention, many others contribute quietly, without public recognition. Sitaramaiah was considered one such figure. He passed away on December 8, 2025, at the age of 65.

Proposals for Babri Masjid, Ram Temple spark fears of polarisation before West Bengal polls

By A Representative   A political debate has emerged in West Bengal following recent announcements about plans for new religious structures in Murshidabad district, including a proposed mosque to be named Babri Masjid and a separate announcement by a BJP leader regarding the construction of a Ram temple in another location within Behrampur.