ABSTRACT
The relationship between state and citizens is no longer confined to the realms of physical space and material media. The state has extended to the digital space, thereby shaping new forms of transactional relationships between citizens and the state. In this context, the ‘Digital State’ emerges as both a logistical and discursive force. At one level, the Digital State makes its presence in social media domains, where the projection of a Digital India as public engagement exercise works to connect with technologically savvy citizens using Twitter, and glorify the use of technology and ‘democratic governance’. However, the Digital State also makes its presence strongly felt in the logistics of everyday life by compelling the poor to come under the grip of technology to access food provided by the Public Distribution System that is now ensconced within digital infrastructures centred upon biometric technologies. This chapter attempts to juxtapose the tale of these two faces of the Digital State in an illustrative sketch of the ‘answerability’ of the state in these two digital domains.
