🛠️ Right to Repair — And the Right to Remember

A must-read and deeply thought-provoking column I came across recently explores something powerful: The right to repair must also include the right to remember.

We often hear about the "Right to Repair" — a global movement pushing manufacturers to make spare parts, repair manuals, and diagnostics openly accessible. It’s about empowering consumers, promoting environmental sustainability, and resisting monopolies that profit from repair restrictions.

But this article takes the idea even further.

It says we must also recognize and protect the knowledge ecosystem that sustains repair — especially in countries like India, where the informal repair sector is vast, skilled, and largely undocumented.

These are the mechanics, electricians, and local technicians — often self-taught or trained by observation — who’ve been keeping our devices alive far beyond what the manufacturer intended. This "muscle memory" knowledge, passed from generation to generation, is invaluable. And yet, it’s fading — unrecognized, unsupported, and unprotected.

So, the "Right to Remember" becomes a call for:

Formal recognition of informal skills

Training and social security for informal workers

Preserving generational knowledge before it’s lost

Building a circular economy that includes people, not just policies

This also aligns with India’s 2022 Right to Repair Framework and the E-Waste Management Rules. If we combine policy with recognition of the invisible heroes behind our repair ecosystem, we’re not just repairing devices — we’re restoring dignity, saving the environment, and creating jobs.

Let’s make sure our drive for sustainability includes those who’ve been living it — quietly, skillfully, and often invisibly.

🔁 What are your thoughts on the informal repair sector? How do you see “right to remember” being integrated into our policies?

#RightToRepair #Sustainability #CircularEconomy #EnvironmentalJustice #EwasteManagement #RepairCulture #SkillIndia #GreenJobs #InformalEconomy #VocationalTraining #TechPolicy #DigitalInclusion #RightToRemember #IndiaRepairRevolution