Why can't India build a decent visa website, asks The Economist. Indians respond
A sharply worded column by The Economist criticising India's government websites, particularly its online visa portal, has triggered an equally spirited debate on social media
A sharply worded column by The Economist criticising India's government websites, particularly its online visa portal, has triggered an equally spirited debate on social media, drawing reactions from politicians, journalists, entrepreneurs and technology commentators. The opinion was expressed in Ashoka, the weekly column of The Economist dedicated to India. In the column titled 'Why can't India's government build a decent website?', the British news and current affairs magazine argued that India's official websites often deliver "clunky online experiences" despite the country's global reputation as an IT powerhouse. The piece opens with a tongue-in-cheek suggestion that readers should "grab a glass of water and 1,000mg of paracetamol" before attempting to navigate India's visa application website. Read Full Story The publication went on to argue that the problem extends beyond the visa portal, saying many government websites suffer from outdated design, broken links, confusing navigation and cumbersome user experiences. It attributed these issues to institutional and bureaucratic challenges rather than a lack of technical talent. The Economist pointed out that the websites feature a "sadistic mix of pop-ups, moving text, flashing graphics, ministerial portraits and antique elements like text-based Captchas, a bot-prevention tool that these days only thwarts humans." It also alleged that "things are no better in the backend". In an apparent reference to Nisarga Adhikary, it said how the 19-year-old "ethical hacker" exposed flaws in the CBSE's On-Screen Marking (OSM) portal. The article quickly became a talking point on social media, where reactions ranged from agreement with the criticism to accusations that The Economist had singled out India while overlooking similar problems elsewhere, including the US.
Some people did agree that user experience could be improved. WHY INDIAN SOFTWARE ENGINEERS DON'T FIX IT, ASKS COLUMNIST While several Indians saw a western media bias in the column, some echoed The Economist's criticism. NCP (SP) spokesperson Anish Gawande used the piece to criticise India's digital governance. "This is the state of Digital India," he wrote, adding that "a ninth-standard student with Claude Code would probably vibe code a better website than the e-visa website (and, honestly, most government websites)." Indian-American entrepreneur and Hotmail co-founder, Sabeer Bhatia, also weighed in, calling it "a broken system," and adding, "No wonder India is falling behind some African countries. Mera Bharat Mahan." Columnist and blogger SL Kanthan approached the issue from another angle, asking why Indian software professionals themselves had not demanded improvements. "How come The Economist notices this obvious problem in India, but millions of Indian software engineers don't complain or fix it?" he wrote. "Government websites for an IT powerhouse are an embarrassment. Unfortunately I have to agree with the Economist here," wrote a person on X. THE ECONOMIST COLUMN A PRESSURE TACTIC: INDIAN COMMENTATOR Commentator and corporate strategist Sandip Ghose countered The Economist's paracetamol with a dose of pantoprazole. "I usually take Pantoprazole (Acid Reflux regulator / proton pump inhibitor) before reading The Economist. Now this is an added prescription. Thanks," wrote Ghose on X. Scientist and geopolitical commentator Deepessh Divaakaran described the timing of the opinion piece as "interesting", suggesting there was more to the story than concern over website usability.
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