Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan on Saturday sought to deny the allegation of the Congress-led United Democratic Front (UDF) Opposition that the government had compromised the personal medical information of nearly 1.75 lakh Keralites under COVID-19 surveillance to a private company.
Mr. Vijayan said the government had contracted the U.S.-based firm Sprinklr to provide an application for health workers to store field data collected from sections of the population under observation. Contrary to the claims of Leader of the Opposition Ramesh Chennithala, the company gave the mobile phone application free. It also stored the electronic medical records in a secure server located inside the country. Moreover, Sprinklr was not a public relations firm as alleged by the Opposition. It was a listed supplier of software and other IT solutions to the State’s Information and Technology Department.
Mr. Vijayan said a non-resident Keralite was the Chief Executive Officer of Sprinklr. He had learned from his aged parents about the intervention of the Kerala government to defeat the scourge. Moved by the State’s struggles against the disease, the person offered his company’s services free of cost to the government.
Mr. Vijayan denied the possibility that Sprinklr could leak the vital data collected by fieldworkers to private players in the highly competitive health-care sector. He said the World Health Organisation had contracted Sprinklr for epidemic surveillance.
The State faced an unprecedented crisis and welcomed every help offered by civic-minded citizens. Mr. Vijayan refused to elaborate on the criteria for choosing Sprinklr to collate and manage such sensitive health data and whether the selection process involved a global tender.
The Chief Minister said there were encouraging signs that COVID-19 was on the retreat in Kerala. However, the State could not afford to be lax. Remaining at home, observing social distance, and implementing break-the-chain measures would help the State fend off a possible resurgence. He used his customary press conference to greet Keralites on Easter. He said Easter conveyed the message of revival and rebirth in the face of great adversity.
