Page 40 - Informatics, April 2023

In the News

Hon’ble Union Minister of State for Electronics and IT unveils Grievance

Appellate Committee Portal

Hon’ble Union Minister of State for Electronics and IT unveiling Grievance Appellate Committee Portal at a post-budget seminar in New Delhi

hri Rajeev Chandrasekhar, Hon’ble Minister of State for Electronics and The IT Rules and GAC aim to ensure a safe, trusted and accountable In-
Information Technology, launched the Grievance Appellate Committee ternet for Indian users. The GAC deals with the appeals of Digital Nagriks
S(GAC) portal in a post-budget session on 28th February 2023 in New aggrieved by decisions of Grievance Officers of social media intermediaries
Delhi. Shri Alkesh Kumar Sharma, Secretary, MeitY, & Chairperson, GAC, Shri on complaints of users against the violation of the IT Rules and any oth-
Amit Agrawal, Additional Secretary, MeitY, Senior officers from MeitY, NIC and er matters pertaining to the computer resources made available by the in-
representatives from Social Media platforms were present during the launch termediaries. The entire appeal process, from filing to decision, is in digital
ceremony. mode, and GAC endeavours to resolve appeals within 30 days. It has three
Hon’ble Minister interacted with the representatives of the social media interfaces, namely for Citizens, Intermediaries, and three GAC Committees.
platforms and expressed hope that the GAC platform will help in protecting For Government officials, the portal is SSO enabled. A mobile app for citizens
the interests of users and act as a bridge in resolving their issues. will be added to the portal to facilitate easy filing of appeals, and a Hindi
version will also be added.
The Grievance Appellate Committees (GACs) are established under the
Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics The portal is designed and developed by NIC Himachal Pradesh in consul-
Code) Rules, 2021 [IT Rules], made under the Information Technology Act, tation with MeitY and NIC Headquarters, and it can be accessed at https://
2000. The IT Rules require social media and other intermediaries to observe gac.gov.in/.
due diligence by making reasonable efforts to cause their users not to host,
display, upload, modify, publish, transmit, store, update or share any infor- -Ajay Singh Chahal, Himachal Pradesh
mation as specified in rule 3(1)(b).

Govt. of Punjab plans to roll out NextGen eHospital across the State

uring a meeting on February 14, 2023, chaired by Smt. Alaknanda
Dayal, Secretary of the Directorate of Medical Education and Research
D (MER) in Punjab, it was decided that the NextGen eHospital will be
implemented to improve the state’s healthcare systems and expand tele-
consultation services to all districts. Senior NIC Officers and representatives
of government medical colleges and hospitals were in attendance to discuss
the implementation of the system.
During the meeting, a demo of the software was presented and the
deployment sequence of activities was discussed. Secretary MER emphasized
that the eHospital will be a major reform in the healthcare sector that will
enhance service standards, accountability, and transparency. The officers
were encouraged to maintain smooth coordination and synergy among all
stakeholders to ensure successful project implementation within the set
timeframe.
NIC Officials conducted a demonstration of the NextGen eHospital at the
Further, a dashboard is proposed to be created for the Chief Minister and Punjab State Directorate of Medical Education and Research prior to its
Secretary MER to have real-time access to inventory and patient information. deployment in the state

-Parminder Kaur, Punjab

40 informatics.nic.in April 2023