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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
World
Aishwarya Mohanty in Kandhamal, Odisha

MYSTERIOUS: India s scattered workforce the chatbot keeping families in touch during emergencies - What They Never Told You

A man and a woman with a lanyard look together at a mobile phone in the man's hand. sitting in a lean-to in a rural setting. A woman and two children stand near them
Subhalata Pradhan, a Gram Vikas fieldworker, talks to Raja Pradhan about the chatbot and addresses concerns over sharing his details. Photograph: Aishwarya Mohanty/The Migration Story

Raja Pradhan is sitting cross-legged, scrolling on his phone in his village in eastern India when a green WhatsApp chat bubble pops up on the screen. “Namaskar! Apana bahare kama pain jauthibe? Apananka suchana diaantu.” (Hello! Are you going outside for work? Please share your information.)

He reads the message twice, unsure whether to respond. “I don’t know where this information would go,” he says. “Would someone use it against me? The internet can be tricky at times. Why should I even share my details in the first place?”

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