Gangtok, April 06: (IPR) Chief Secretary Shri S.C Gupta launched the dedicated State Portal for COVID-19 here at Tashiling Secretariat today.
The COVID-19 Centralized Information System has been developed by the Department of Information Technology, Government of Sikkim, to function as a single source of credible and authoritative information on services related to COVID-19 mitigation, and to disseminate genuine/credible information about the steps taken by the Government of Sikkim in order to combat the COVID-19 pandemic. Along with vital interactive features, the portal will also work as a fact-checking platform to deal with any instance of circulation of fake and unverified news and information.
The portal can be accessed at www.covid19sikkim.org.
The system has been developed with the technical support from a local IT firm M/s NetSpeq Solutions having its registered office at Deorali. The portal is a voluntary contribution of Shri. Karma Lhendup Bhutia, Founder, M/s NetSpeq Solutions and his team comprising of Mr Sulochan Thapa and Mr Arpan Rai.
A brief presentation on the Online Portal was made by Assistant Director, IT Department, Shri. Prem Ashis Pradhan.
The portal displays information pertaining to the following:
a) Latest News & Press Releases from the Government of Sikkim, as well as Notifications, Orders, Circulars and other official information issued by competent authorities on a regular basis.
b) Daily updates of a number of people who have been quarantined along with the name of the quarantine centre, as well as a number of patients admitted in Isolation facilities.
c) Daily updates of COVID-19 test samples sent for screening and results thereof. The portal will have the daily medical bulletin issued by the Health Department.
d) All the contact details of important persons will be found in the portal as well as important Helpline numbers.
e) The Portal also has a column on Chief Minister’s Disaster Relief Fund, where people can voluntarily contribute through the online mode (cmdrf.sikkim.gov.in).
f) Citizen Corner, which is an interactive feature, where the citizens can ask questions to the Government officials by registering one time and avail of the following services:
i) View the list of essential stores in their locality and also enlist a store. Vendors/supplies/Commercial establishments i.e. milk vendors/grocery/departmental stores/emergency vehicles/are requested to register themselves through the portal by clicking the essential button on the portal by visiting sikkimlocalsupply.com. This data shall be helpful to identify the vendors for essential goods in the locality.
ii) Apply for vehicle passes online. Those who are applying for the Vehicle e-Pass can use the portal to apply for the permit online which gets approved online and on approval a downloadable link will be received on their cell-phone which can be downloaded and showed at checkpoints. However, the documents mentioned in the application are to be carried in original for verification purpose. It may be informed that the e-passes will be issued by District Collectors from tomorrow, the 7th of April, 2020. A nodal officer for each district has been notified for the purpose.
iii) Registered NGO’s and voluntary organizations willing to extend their services can apply for the permission to operate within a particular district through the portal. A dedicated column has been designed for this purpose.
It may be mentioned that the application for issue of vehicle passes has been developed by the National Informatics Centre (NIC), Sikkim.
Chief Secretary Shri. S.C Gupta expressed his satisfaction at the interactive and user-friendly features of the Portal. He said that the Portal will be a credible source of information and updates on COVID-19 in the State, as well as a platform for easily accessible online services to the people of Sikkim during the period of lock-down. He also suggested that the Portal should be a one-stop solution for all IT needs of the people in this time of crisis. Speaking on the challenge of circulation of fake and unverified news and information, the Chief Secretary said that the Penal Provisions laid down by the Government of India under the Disaster Management Act have to be clearly laid down in the Portal to make people understand the legal implications of creating/sharing fake news through any form of media. He took the opportunity to appeal to the people of Sikkim not to indulge in the circulation of fake or unverified news and information on COVID-19.
The meeting had the presence and participation of Secretary, Home (Protocol), Shri Rinzing Chewang Bhutia, Director, IT Department, Shri Rajendra Chettri, Officers from Home and IT Departments, Members of the newly-constituted ‘Fact-Checking Team’ to check fake news, and Founder of M/s NetSpeq Solutions, Shri Karma Lhendup Bhutia.
