these millions of French people forgotten in increasingly connected administrative procedures

On board the France Service bus, Elsa, the coordinator installs her computer connected to the Internet. The van travels through 46 municipalities in the Manche department, with all the necessary equipment to help residents with their online administrative procedures. “I’ve come for two gray cards to redo, and my Ameli account is blocked!” : here is Elisabeth, 65, retired farmer, resident of the small town of Grateau, one of the many white areas of the department. From home, it is almost impossible to do all these steps. “Already with us in Grateau, the Wifi is not going wellshe explains. And then you see, it’s complicated by the Internet, everything becomes more complicated.”

A little overwhelmed by this world that changes too quickly, Elizabeth clings: “I write down all my passwords in a notebook. But I often have to cross them out, because it doesn’t work.” Elsa takes matters into her own hands: “So, we’re going to put another code for your Ameli account… And now it’s unlocked!” For Elizabeththis digital divide is also due to the lack of civil servants.

“There are not enough people to receive us in the administrations. It’s good the Internet, we must not be against it, but when there are difficulties, people are needed to receive us. was not complicated like that…”

Elisabeth, retired resident of Grateau

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Indeed the number of agents is in constant decline, and we arrive at very significant disparities today between territories. In this sector of the Channel, for 1000 inhabitants, less than three agents on average at the counters of Pôle Emploi, the Post Office or the Social Security. More than double in Gironde for example, or in Ile-de-France. A situation denounced by Nathalie, 64, territorial animation agent.

“At the base, we are not robots. We are humans and we need each other! Human presence, contact, dialogue, we really need all that.”

Nathalie, territorial agent

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Nathalie sits on the bus: she tries to get an appointment to take care of her husband’s retirement file. She lost an email: “You may be able to help me”she says to Elsa who finds him in a few clicks. “Do you want me to print it for you?”, she asks Nathalie. “I don’t mind!“The printer is running at full speed, a symbol of the need for paper and the need for material things.

“Who’s next?”, asks Elsa. It’s Roger’s turn. He is one of those French people who have accumulated so much delay that they are unable to take the slightest step on the Internet. However, he can only compile his retirement file online. And like one in five French people, Roger does not have a computer: “I don’t know how to use it. So it’s not worth buying a computer if I don’t use it. But it’s all on the Internet!”

So it is his brother-in-law Jean-Philippe who takes care of his steps. It also manages the identifiers and passwords of part of the family. He recorded everything in a table. “I am much obligedhe says. You have to put yourself in people’s shoes, they actually need to be helped.”

The picture drawn is bitter: white areas without internet, citizens who are not digitally trained, weakened public services. But above all, too much complexity in the procedures, points out Catherine de la Hougue, vice-president of the community of communes Coutances sea and bocages, who pushed for the establishment of the France Service bus.

“We must allow all citizens to have the same access to all services, which is not the case. We see in the municipalities where the bus goes that there are people who perhaps would have waived their rights.”

Catherine de la Hogue

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“I know for example that the RSA is not given to all beneficiariesshe explains. For certain allowances, such as that of a disabled adult, it’s complicated!” And this endangers social cohesion, in the words of the Defender of Rights Claire Hédon, in her report.

The people met on the France Service bus feel far from public services, far from the State, far from national politics, and that is not new. In the middle of the electoral campaign, this translates into a very pronounced lack of interest in the presidential election. “Between what we hear on TV, the political debates we see, there is a huge gap, a gap, a precipiceexplains a disillusioned resident. It’s the buzz that wins, so from there, we don’t deal with people.”

“I follow the elections a little less at the moment, because it’s true that my goal now is my daily life, my family. For two and a half years, with the Covid, we have become aware of important things, who are close to us.”

The majority of people met on the France Service bus have also planned to abstain next April.