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

The silencing of conscience: Ideological attacks on India’s judiciary and free thought

By Sunil Kumar*  “Volunteers will pick up sticks to remove every obstacle that comes in the way of Sanatan and saints’ work.” — RSS Chief Mohan Bhagwat (November 6, 2024, Chitrakoot) Eleven months later, on October 6, 2025, a man who threw a shoe inside the Supreme Court shouted, “India will not tolerate insults to Sanatan.” This incident was not an isolated act but a continuation of a pattern seen over the past decade—attacks on intellectuals, writers, activists, and journalists, sometimes in the name of institutions, sometimes by individual actors or organizations.

'Violation of Apex Court order': Delhi authorities blamed for dog-bite incidents at JLN Stadium

By A Representative   People for Animals (PFA), led by Ms. Ambika Shukla, has held the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) responsible for the recent dog-bite incidents at Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium, accusing it of violating Supreme Court directions regarding community dogs. The organisation’s on-ground fact-finding mission met stadium authorities and the two affected coaches to verify details surrounding the incidents, both of which occurred on October 3.

N-power plant at Mithi Virdi: CRZ nod is arbitrary, without jurisdiction

By Krishnakant* A case-appeal has been filed against the order of the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEF&CC) and others granting CRZ clearance for establishment of intake and outfall facility for proposed 6000 MWe Nuclear Power Plant at Mithi Virdi, District Bhavnagar, Gujarat by Nuclear Power Corporation of India Limited (NPCIL) vide order in F 11-23 /2014-IA- III dated March 3, 2015. The case-appeal in the National Green Tribunal at Western Bench at Pune is filed by Shaktisinh Gohil, Sarpanch of Jasapara; Hajabhai Dihora of Mithi Virdi; Jagrutiben Gohil of Jasapara; Krishnakant and Rohit Prajapati activist of the Paryavaran Suraksha Samiti. The National Green Tribunal (NGT) has issued a notice to the MoEF&CC, Gujarat Pollution Control Board, Gujarat Coastal Zone Management Authority, Atomic Energy Regulatory Board and Nuclear Power Corporation of India Limited (NPCIL) and case is kept for hearing on August 20, 2015. Appeal No. 23 of 2015 (WZ) is filed, a...

History, culture and literature of Fatehpur, UP, from where Maulana Hasrat Mohani hailed

By Vidya Bhushan Rawat*  Maulana Hasrat Mohani was a member of the Constituent Assembly and an extremely important leader of our freedom movement. Born in Unnao district of Uttar Pradesh, Hasrat Mohani's relationship with nearby district of Fatehpur is interesting and not explored much by biographers and historians. Dr Mohammad Ismail Azad Fatehpuri has written a book on Maulana Hasrat Mohani and Fatehpur. The book is in Urdu.  He has just come out with another important book, 'Hindi kee Pratham Rachna: Chandayan' authored by Mulla Daud Dalmai.' During my recent visit to Fatehpur town, I had an opportunity to meet Dr Mohammad Ismail Azad Fatehpuri and recorded a conversation with him on issues of history, culture and literature of Fatehpur. Sharing this conversation here with you. Kindly click this link. --- *Human rights defender. Facebook https://www.facebook.com/vbrawat , X @freetohumanity, Skype @vbrawat

New RTI draft rules inspired by citizen-unfriendly, overtly bureaucratic approach

By Venkatesh Nayak* The Department of Personnel and Training , Government of India has invited comments on a new set of Draft Rules (available in English only) to implement The Right to Information Act, 2005 . The RTI Rules were last amended in 2012 after a long period of consultation with various stakeholders. The Government’s move to put the draft RTI Rules out for people’s comments and suggestions for change is a welcome continuation of the tradition of public consultation. Positive aspects of the Draft RTI Rules While 60-65% of the Draft RTI Rules repeat the content of the 2012 RTI Rules, some new aspects deserve appreciation as they clarify the manner of implementation of key provisions of the RTI Act. These are: Provisions for dealing with non-compliance of the orders and directives of the Central Information Commission (CIC) by public authorities- this was missing in the 2012 RTI Rules. Non-compliance is increasingly becoming a major problem- two of my non-compliance cases are...

Citizens’ group to recall Justice Chagla’s alarm as India faces ‘undeclared' Emergency

By A Representative  In a move likely to raise eyebrows among the powers-that-be, a voluntary organisation founded during the “dark days” of the Indira Gandhi -imposed Emergency has announced that it will hold a public conference in Ahmedabad to highlight what its office-bearers call today’s “undeclared Emergency.”

Celebrating 125 yr old legacy of healthcare work of missionaries

Vilas Shende, director, Mure Memorial Hospital By Moin Qazi* Central India has been one of the most fertile belts for several unique experiments undertaken by missionaries in the field of education and healthcare. The result is a network of several well-known schools, colleges and hospitals that have woven themselves into the social landscape of the region. They have also become a byword for quality and affordable services delivered to all sections of the society. These institutions are characterised by committed and compassionate staff driven by the selfless pursuit of improving the well-being of society. This is the reason why the region has nursed and nurtured so many eminent people who occupy high positions in varied fields across the country as well as beyond. One of the fruits of this legacy is a more than century old iconic hospital that nestles in the heart of Nagpur city. Named as Mure Memorial Hospital after a British warrior who lost his life in a war while defending his cou...

Epic war against caste system is constitutional responsibility of elected government

Edited by well-known Gujarat Dalit rights leader Martin Macwan, the book, “Bhed-Bharat: An Account of Injustice and Atrocities on Dalits and Adivasis (2014-18)” (available in English and Gujarati*) is a selection of news articles on Dalits and Adivasis (2014-2018) published by Dalit Shakti Prakashan, Ahmedabad. Preface to the book, in which Macwan seeks to answer key questions on why the book is needed today: *** The thought of compiling a book on atrocities on Dalits and thus present an overall Indian picture had occurred to me a long time ago. Absence of such a comprehensive picture is a major reason for a weak social and political consciousness among Dalits as well as non-Dalits. But gradually the idea took a different form. I found that lay readers don’t understand numbers and don’t like to read well-researched articles. The best way to reach out to them was storytelling. As I started writing in Gujarati and sharing the idea of the book with my friends, it occurred to me that while...

From seed to soil: How transnational control is endangering food sovereignty

By Bharat Dogra  In recent decades, the world has witnessed a steady erosion of plant diversity in many countries, particularly those in the Global South that were once richly endowed with natural plant wealth. Much of this diversity has been removed from its original ecological and cultural contexts and transferred into gene banks concentrated in developed nations. While conservation of genetic resources is important, the problem arises when access to these collections becomes unequal, particularly when they fall under the control of transnational corporations.