After Koo, Its Sandes- India's Alternative to WhatsApp

NEW DELHI: Joining the list of Indian apps coming up as alternatives to other social media applications, is the National Informatics Centre (NIC) launched Sandes.

Sandes is an instant messaging platform. Similar to Facebook-owned WhatsApp, Sandes can be used for all kinds of communication by anyone who has a mobile number or email id.

NIC, which is a part of the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY), first launched the app on August 2020. It was initially launched for android users and then introduced to iOS users. The NIC, while releasing the first version of the app said that Sandes could be used by both state and central government employees and officials for both "intra and inter-organisation communication."

The idea for a secure communication network dedicated exclusively to government employees has reportedly been in the works for the past four years. After the central government announced a nationwide lockdown in March 2020 to curb the spread of Covid-19, most of the office work-both government and private started on an online mode. The government realised the need to create a platform that would ensure secure communication between its employees as they worked from home.

Zoom gained prominence for a while but after security lapses, the Ministry of Home Affairs issued an advisory in April 2020, asking all government employees to refrain from using platforms such as Zoom for official communication. In view of the increased need for an indigenous platform that kept all necessary security measures intact, Sandes was developed by NIC.

Sandes was also developed and launched as a boost to the BJP government's Atmanirbhar Bharat initiative.

Sandes was initially open only to government officials but it has now been released for the public as well.

The app's interface is quite similar to many other apps which are currently available. It has as an additional safety feature where it allows a user to mark a message as confidential, which, the app's description says, will allow the recipient to be made aware the message should not be shared with others. The confidential label, however, does not change the way the message is sent from one user to another.

There is no option to transfer chat history between two platforms, but the chats on government instant messaging systems (GIMS) can be stored as back up on a users' email.

GIMS requires a valid mobile number or email id to register the user for the first time. It also offers features such as group making, broadcast message, message forwarding and emojis.

The app, however, does not allow the user to change their email id or registered phone number. The user will have to register again on the platform as a new user in case they wish to change their registered email id or phone number on the app.

The app will be soon available on PlayStore and iOS for download.

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