The 7/11 Mumbai blast has given a strong message to the nation that we need to work towards safeguarding our citizens and managing disasters, whatever the cost.
The country is gung-ho on spending on e-Governance projects and investing crores of rupees on various projects, but the point is that have we integrated enough intelligence to trace possible mishaps and post-mishap treatment and rehabilitation. I may be overstretching the point, but it has to happen sooner than later. There is no incident where a person has taken the help of e-Governance tools while rescuing.
We are optimistic though, but today the rescuers face difficulties in finding out the right hospital, blood banks, rehabilitation centres, etc. Today, by the time the patient or the victim is given treatment, he is half dead because the hospitals remain fully occupied always and it takes time to find the space for the victim and after that there takes place mad rush for finding out the right group of blood and medicines.
If e-Governance can be implemented to the fullest potential, probably we can save many precious lives. So far, what the government has done is quite rudimentary in this respect.
There has to be made huge investments in enabling active windows of information in e-Governance. E-Governance can provide the right type of information about the medical infrastructure. Secondly, the pace of information has to be faster because if some one seeks information from government-sponsored sites, one needs to have patience to get the information. People give the example of Indian Railways as the successful site, but at times it becomes so slow that the user prefers going physically to the railway reservation counter and spending some manhours. Predominantly, every application is broadband based. Even though the broadband pricing has come down, every user does have access to the broadband. So, the sites should be compatible with dial-up connectivity.
E-Medicine is another space where the government should work aggressively because it is one of the utility sectors. E-Medicine can help prevent the rate of mortality due to the lack of right medication at the right time.
All these facilities should be available through mobile devices, including mobile phones, PDAs, etc. so that the people can easily access the information on the run in the hour of their distress.
Sanjay Mohapatra
Editor
