Editorial 2: ​​The ‘right to repair’ must include the ‘right to remember’

Context

As India advances in AI and digital systems, it must align these goals with the realities of repair and its tradition of frugal innovation.

Introduction

In May 2025, the Indian government advanced its commitment to sustainable electronics by approving a report that recommends introducing a Repairability Index for mobile phones and appliances. This index will rate products based on how easily they can be repaired, the availability of spare parts, and continued software support. Additionally, updated e-waste regulations now mandate minimum payments to encourage formal recycling. These initiatives are both timely and necessary.

• As India moves toward recognising repair as a consumer right, it must also acknowledge repair as a cultural and intellectual asset — a form of practical knowledge that needs preservation and support.
• While India’s digital and AI policies — such as Digital Public Infrastructure (DPI) and the National Strategy on Artificial Intelligence (NSAI) — focus on innovation, data, and efficiency, they often overlook the invisible backbone of daily life: the informal repair and maintenance economy.
• In a world driven by cloud technology and algorithms, we risk neglecting tacit knowledge — the kind of understanding passed through hands-on experience, not formal manuals or code.
• From Karol Bagh’s mobile repairers in Delhi to Ritchie Street technicians in Chennai, skilled workers extend the lifespan of gadgets through improvisation, sensory diagnosis, and component reuse, even without official guides.
• Their workspaces may be small and tools basic, but their creative problem-solving and resilience reflect deep technological ingenuity.
• However, this traditional repair ecosystem is under threat — due to increasingly unrepairable product designs, consumer trends toward disposability, and exclusion from training schemes and policy focus.
• What’s at risk isn’t just livelihood loss, but the disappearance of a vast, undocumented knowledge system that has long bolstered India’s technological self-reliance and circular economy.
• As the nation embraces digital innovation, it must also integrate and protect the informal repair sector as a vital part of its sustainable and inclusive development strategy.

Why tacit knowledge matters

The blind spot in India’s digital policy

• India’s E-waste Status: In 2021–22, India produced more than 1.6 million tonnes of e-waste, making it the third-largest generator in the world.
• E-Waste Rules, 2022: These introduced Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR), where manufacturers must manage their products even after consumers discard them.
• Neglect of Repair in Policy: The rules mainly focus on recycling, with very little attention to repair as a way to reduce waste in the first place.
• Skilling Gaps: Government schemes like the Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Vikas Yojana (PMKVY) offer short-term training for factory roles, but repair work needs creativity, problem-solving, and reuse — skills that don’t fit easily in formal modules.
• Education Policy Oversight: While the NEP 2020 talks about traditional knowledge and hands-on learning, it does not explain how to support local repair skills or pass them on.
• Mission LiFE and Repair Culture: Campaigns like Mission LiFE promote eco-friendly habits like repair and reuse, but they rarely support the actual workers doing the repair work.
• Policy-Workforce Disconnect: Circular economy ideas are growing in India’s policy space, but the informal repair sector is often left out despite being central to sustainability.
• Rise of ‘Unmaking’ Concept: A new idea in research is "unmaking" — taking apart, repairing, or reusing products to understand flaws and improve future designs.
• Learning from Repair: Broken items are not just waste; they teach us valuable lessons. A faulty phone part can help someone reconnect to life, and a damaged circuit board can be a learning tool.
• Repair is Central, Not Marginal: Informal repairers work daily to extend the life of goods. Their efforts support a true circular economy, where repair is part of the product’s journey.
• Need for Recognition: By valuing repair workers as key contributors to environmental innovation, India can lead in both sustainability and digital inclusion.

AI-enabled solutions for repair justice

• India’s Repair Culture is Old and Resilient: India’s long tradition of jugaad (creative problem-solving) and frugality existed well before today’s tech-driven policies.
• Repairers have been adapting to changing technologies for decades, often without formal support or recognition.
• Tech Progress vs. Ground Reality: While India is investing in AI infrastructure and digital public goods, these plans must align with the real-world challenges of repair work.
• Modern Gadgets: Hard to Repair: Today’s devices are designed for compactness and control, not for easy fixing.
  A 2023 iFixit report found that only 23% of smartphones sold in Asia are easily repairable due to tight, non-modular designs.
• Need for Repair-Friendly Design: To make technology truly sustainable, we must consider the entire product lifecycle — not just production and use, but also breakdown, repair, and reuse.
• Designing for “Unmaking”: Products should be built with repair and disassembly in mind from the beginning.
  This approach should shape both hardware standards and AI-integrated systems.

Institutional Actions Needed

• Ministry of Electronics & IT: Should include repairability standards in AI policies and government procurement rules.
• Department of Consumer Affairs: Can expand the Right to Repair framework to cover more product categories and include community participation.
• Ministry of Labour & Employment (via e-Shram): Can officially recognise informal repair workers and link them to social security and training opportunities.
• Ministry of Skill Development & Entrepreneurship: Should design training that reflects the hands-on, intuitive nature of repair work, not just industrial skill templates.

Tools for Preserving Repair Knowledge

• Decision Trees: Can help document common repair processes in simple, structured formats.
• Large Language Models (LLMs): Can be used to record, summarise, and share local repair knowledge in many languages — without losing its context or creativity.

Conclusion

Supporting this ecosystem goes beyond issues of intellectual property or technical performance. It means recognising the skilled, hands-on labour that quietly keeps our digital and physical worlds running — a key step toward a fair, repair-friendly tech future. As philosopher Michael Polanyi said, “We know more than we can tell.” By valuing what can't be digitised, we honour the human wisdom that gives technology its true depth and purpose.