Social media won't be allowed to abuse election process: Prasad
New Delhi, Aug 26 : Social media platforms will never be allowed to abuse India's election process and stringent measures backed by laws on data protection and individual privacy have been put in place, Information Technology (IT) Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad has said.
Addressing the plenary of the G-20 Digital Economy Ministerial meeting in Salata, Argentina, on August 23-24, Prasad also noted that India had taken serious note of the reported data misuse by social media platforms and said the purity of the democratic process should never be compromised, an IT Ministry statement said here on Sunday.
The Minister's remarks come after the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) launched a preliminary enquiry against the British political consultancy firm Cambridge Analytica for alleged illegal harvesting of personal data of Indians from Facebook.
The UK consultancy has also been accused of allegedly interfering in the 2016 US Presidential elections.
"Minister Prasad stressed that India had taken a serious note of reported misuse of social media platform data. Such platforms will never be allowed to abuse our election process for extraneous means," the statement said.
He also said that the purity of the democratic process should never be compromised and that India will take all required steps to deter and punish those who seek to vitiate this process.
Noting that while privacy cannot prohibit innovation nor become a shield "for the corrupt or terrorists", Prasad said that data must be anonymous, objective and taken with consent for it to continue being an effective tool to improve business.
In this connection, Department of Telecommunications Secretary Aruna Sundararajan said here earlier this week that the government has no intention of imposing a blanket ban on messaging applications and is looking for other "technical solutions" to curb instances of fake news and misuse of these apps.
On Tuesday, Prasad met Whatsapp CEO Chris Daniels here and asked the visiting corporate to comply with Indian laws and take "suitable" steps to prevent the misuse of the instant messaging platform.
At the G-20 event, Prasad also proposed that a part of the revenue generated by digital platforms needs to be reinvested in the host markets.
According to the statement, India's digital infrastructure consists of 1.21 billion mobile phones, including 450 million smartphones, nearly 500 million internet subscribers and increasing broadband availability.
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Maharashtra sets up state vaccination task force to strengthen immunisation programme
Mumbai (PTI): The Maharashtra government has set up a State Vaccination Task Force to strengthen the regular immunisation programme and review the progress of related campaigns, a health department official said on Monday.
The State Vaccination Task Force will comprise at least 29 members and will be headed by the administrative head of the health department, he informed.
The government has also constituted separate district-level and municipal vaccination task forces to improve implementation and address challenges at the grassroots level, he said.
Municipal task forces, chaired by respective civic commissioners, have been constituted in view of the vast urban population in Maharashtra and the role of civic bodies in implementing different health programmes.
The district-level task forces will function under the chairmanship of collectors.
"Complete immunisation of children at the appropriate age is an extremely simple, cost-effective and highly effective measure to reduce child mortality and the prevalence of diseases among kids. Immunisation is a powerful tool for reducing illness in children," maintained the official.
To ensure full vaccination of all children, the state government implements various campaigns from time to time as per the central government guidelines, he pointed out.
"Active participation and cooperation of other relevant government departments are essential (in making these campaigns successful)," according to the official.
The state-level body will review the regular immunisation programme, associated campaigns and vaccine-preventable diseases in detail. It will also conduct focused assessments of high-risk districts and municipal corporations, including vacancies at district, municipal and sub-district levels, availability of cold chain equipment, resource gaps and training requirements, he noted.
The state task force will review allocation and utilisation of funds for immunisation and ensure timely action by officers concerned based on reports from district and municipal task forces and state-level monitoring mechanisms, the official said.
It will also ensure active coordination and participation of other government departments in immunisation drives, while district and municipal task forces will carry out similar functions at their respective levels, the official added.
