Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan has been advocating for Arattai, a made-in-India messaging app available on both the Google Play Store and Apple App Store. In line with Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Swadeshi initiative to promote indigenous products, Pradhan encouraged citizens to adopt Arattai, calling it secure, simple to use, and completely free. He also stressed that the platform has been developed entirely in India.
The name “Arattai”, a Tamil word meaning casual talk or chat, captures the app’s focus on effortless communication. Built by Zoho, the app promises privacy-first interactions, assuring users that their data will not be shared with third parties.
Arattai comes with a host of features such as voice and text messaging, image and document sharing, audio/video calls, large group chats supporting up to 1,000 members, and channel-based discussions. It positions itself as a strong local alternative to global platforms like WhatsApp.
On the security front, Arattai provides end-to-end encryption for calls, ensuring privacy between sender and receiver. However, messages are not fully encrypted, a gap that may raise concerns among privacy-focused users—especially compared to WhatsApp’s fully encrypted messaging.
The app’s promotion ties into the government’s larger vision of strengthening local innovation, boosting self-reliance in technology, and reducing reliance on global tech corporations.
