Paper short abstract:

This paper draws on a collaborative research project with community based advocates for people struggling to access social protection in Delhi. It considers how the shift to online delivery of public services creates new knowledge economies and forms of mediation in low income neighbourhoods.

Paper long abstract:

In Delhi people living in low income neighbourhoods have legal rights to access a range of social protections. However, due to intersecting factors of low literacy, multiple dimensions of poverty, discrimination, corruption and poor service delivery many people have difficulty in accessing these rights. These challenges are complicated by the Indian government's efforts to move the application process for services online, replicating a global movement towards "digital by default" service provision. This paper emerges from a collaborative research project in Delhi with NGO 'community mobilisers' from low income neighbourhoods who monitor local service delivery, and act as advocates for people struggling to access social protection. It considers how the shift to what these advocates call the 'online mode' creates problems for those without internet access, appropriate language skills, or the experiential knowledge of how to interact with computer interfaces. The shift to the online mode opens a new knowledge economy in Delhi. "Cyber-cafes" sprout in neighbourhoods as approaching deadlines for online applications to government schemes open up opportunities to charge for assistance and the preparation of supporting documents. At the same time community mobilisers apply their grounded knowledge to help people safely negotiate application processes through street outreach. Experiential knowledge, the reliability of information and the necessity of mediation intersect with concepts of struggle, empowerment and active citizenship. Is the challenge to untangle them, or to find accommodations that will suit all those involved?