The ‘right to repair’ must include ‘right to remember’
Why in the News?
In May 2025, the Indian government accepted a proposal for a Repairability Index for electronic devices and introduced new e-waste rules, including incentives for formal recycling. These initiatives mark a shift toward recognising the Right to repair as a consumer right.
Background
- India generates over 1.6 million tonnes of e-waste annually, making it the third-largest producer globally.
- The Right to Repair framework (2022) and portal (2023) were introduced to promote repair access for electronics, automobiles, and farm equipment.
- Despite this, repairers in India’s informal economy remain excluded from policies, skilling programs, and recognition.
- AI and Digital Public Infrastructure (DPI) policies focus on efficiency, often ignoring the human repair labour that sustains devices beyond planned obsolescence.
Feature Highlights
Tacit Knowledge as Repair Capital
- Informal repairers rely on tacit knowledge: hands-on, non-verbal learning passed down through observation and repetition.
- This type of expertise is adaptive, localised, and hard to codify, yet critical to sustainability.
- Example: A technician learns by “watching his uncle,” not from manuals.
Unmaking as a Design Principle
- “Unmaking” = the act of disassembling and repurposing gadgets, not as failure but as feedback.
- Informal repairers extend the life cycle of devices and highlight design flaws invisible to engineers or AI.
- They perform essential work in the circular economy, despite lacking visibility.
AI and Repair Synergy
- AI can document, preserve, and amplify this tacit knowledge:
- LLMs can record and translate repair narratives.
- Decision trees can help codify typical repair pathways.
- But AI must recognise its debt to grassroots knowledge and avoid displacing the very communities that teach it.
Policy Gaps
- E-Waste (Management) Rules, 2022, focus on recycling, not repair.
- PMKVY and NEP 2020 don’t support improvisational, diagnostic labour like repair.
- Mission LiFE encourages sustainability but overlooks those who implement it, informal workers.
Challenges
Erosion of Informal Repair Ecosystem
- Modern product design is increasingly non-repairable (e.g., compact smartphones).
- Informal repairers are being locked out of markets and policies.
Lack of Institutional Support
- Skilling programmes are too standardised, ignoring localised knowledge systems.
- Tacit repair knowledge remains undocumented and unrecognised.
Digital Policy Blind Spot
- India’s AI and tech infrastructure lacks a framework to include or support informal repairers.
Social Inequity
- Informal repairers face economic marginalisation, lack social security, and miss out on benefits available to formal workers.
Way Forward
Embed Repairability in Design & Policy
- Include repairability scores in public procurement and product design.
- Mandate spare part availability and repair manuals from manufacturers.
Expand the Right to Repair Framework
- Include product classification, community participation, and support for local ecosystems.
Formal Recognition of Informal Workers
- Use platforms like e-Shram to register repairers for benefits and skilling.
Policy Integration Across Ministries
- Ministry of Electronics & IT: Include repair standards in AI policies.
- Ministry of Skill Development: Build flexible training models acknowledging tacit expertise.
- Ministry of Labour: Extend protections and incentives to informal repairers.
AI for Repair Justice
- Use LLMs and decision trees to convert lived repair experiences into shareable
- knowledge without erasing local context.
Conclusion
India stands at a critical juncture: as it builds a future rooted in AI and sustainability, it must not forget the human hands and intuitive minds that already practice these principles daily. Repair is not just a technical skill – it is a cultural, environmental, and intellectual asset. Valuing this labour, digitising without erasing, and aligning AI ambition with grassroots ingenuity will ensure a just and repair-ready technological future.
FAQ – Right to Repair and Remember
Q. What is the “Right to Repair”?
The Right to Repair is a consumer-centric principle that ensures access to tools, manuals, parts, and information necessary to fix products like smartphones, electronics, vehicles, and farm equipment. It challenges planned obsolescence and promotes sustainability.
Q. Why is it in the news now?
In May 2025, the Indian government:
- Accepted a Repairability Index proposal for electronics.
- Announced new e-waste rules with incentives for formal recycling.
These developments mark a shift toward recognizing repair as a consumer right in India.
Q. What does “Right to Remember” mean in this context?
The “Right to Remember” emphasizes preserving tacit repair knowledge—skills learned informally through hands-on experience, often passed across generations in India’s vibrant informal repair economy.
Q. Why is India’s informal repair economy important?
- India is the 3rd-largest e-waste generator globally (1.6 million tonnes annually).
- Informal repairers extend product lifespans, reduce landfill pressure, and reuse components.
- Despite lacking formal training, they contribute deeply to circular economy goals.
Q. What challenges are informal repairers facing?
- Modern design: Devices are harder to repair (non-removable batteries, proprietary screws).
- AI/DPI systems: Often ignore manual labour and local intelligence.
- Policy gaps: Government schemes like PMKVY and NEP 2020 exclude improvisational skills.
- Social inequality: Informal workers lack recognition, training, and social protection.
MAINS PRACTICE QUESTION
Question: “The Right to Repair must evolve into a Right to Remember.” In the context of India’s growing e-waste and AI ecosystem, critically evaluate how tacit repair knowledge can be integrated into digital public infrastructure and sustainability policies.
