Users wary of glitch-hit TN govt apps 

The state has launched several new applications for every department and Ministers, while delivering their addresses in the state Assembly, claimed that the mobile applications launched by the state government have very good patronage and are used by a large number of beneficiaries. But, on the contrary, the mobile apps are suffering from various shortcomings.

Thoondil, meaning fishing gear in Tamil, is one of the recently launched mobile application by the Department of Fisheries in association with National Centre for Coastal Research (NCCR). According to the officials of Fisheries Department, the app provides real time information on weather, potential fishing zone, high tide, cyclone alert and so on and also has SOS features so that fishermen can alert the government during the time of crisis.

However, the app has only been downloaded by just over 1,000 fishermen as the fishermen said that there are many practical difficulties while using the app. K Bharathi, president, South Indian Fishermen Welfare Association, told DT Next that there are network issues while using smart phones in the sea. “Mobile towers will be available only for a certain distance in the sea and that too internet will not be available in the sea. When the fishermen go to deep sea, the app is of no use to them. Also, fibre boat fishermen cannot use mobile phones inside the sea and there are many instances where the mobile phones have fallen into the sea,” said Bharathi.

Uzhavan app was launched by Department of Agriculture. The app promises to provide complete information on the crop insurance scheme information on seeds and the availability of fertilizers. Though the app was once popular among the farmers the app has lost its sheen due to technical glitches.

Farmers face the difficulty of registering their Aadhaar numbers to retreive their user Id and to avail other benefits. Many farmers could not register their information in the app even after installing the app and some could not open the app due to technical glitches.

TN-eAdangal app was launched by the Revenue Deparmtent to confirm and entre land and crop details. The app also suffers from technical glitches and many could not even login into the app. The app had faced several criticisms from the users as many could not find the required information onland and crops.

While there are several other apps for various departments brought out for various purposes by the state government, they too suffer from lack of patronage and significant technical glitches.