Date: 25/09/2016

National Conference on E- Governance: Deliveries on Transparency, Compliance and Good Governance

PHD Chamber in collaboration with NeGD (National E- Governance Division) organized National Conference on E-Governance: Deliveries on Transparency, Compliance and Good Governance on 8th September 2016 at PHD House, New Delhi.

The objective of the Conference was to discuss the roadmap for effective and robust e-Governance implementation and how India can upgrade its current structure of E-Governance. It also discussed the issues in E Governance with focus on Health and come up with strategies and suggestions on the policies and implementation side.




Left to Right: Mr. Milan Narendra, Partner, Ernst and Young India; Mr. Atul Anand, Co – Chairman, Committee on Electronics and ICT,PHD Chamber; Prof. Suptendra Nath Sarbadhikari, Project Director, National Institute of Health and Family Welfare (NIHFW);Mr. Sanjeev Shriya, Chairman, Committee on Electronics and ICT, PHD Chamber and Mr. Vivek Seigell, Director, PHD Chamber


The Conference was inaugurated by Prof. Suptendra Nath Sarbadhikari, Project Director, National Institute of Health and Family Welfare (NIHFW) and Mr. Milan Narendra, Partner, Ernst &Young India

Mr. Sanjeev Shriya, Chairman, Committee on Electronics and ICT, PHD Chamber in his welcome address said that the rise of e-governance has been one of the most striking developments of the web and it presents national governments with a number of challenges and opportunities.

Elaborating further Mr. Shriya said that with the increase in Internet and mobile connections, the citizens today are expecting more and more information and services online from governments and corporate organizations and thereby strengthening the new “e-citizenship” model.
Mr. Shriya also said that E-Governance has the potential to benefit India’s citizens exponentially and maximize the return on the government’s investment in it. It offers benefits such as Speed, Cost Reduction, Transparency, Accountability, Convenience and Increased access to information.

Mr. Atul Anand, Co-Chairman, Committee on Electronics and ICT, PHD Chamber in his theme address of the Conference said that E- Governance essentially is integrated governance which integrates people, processes and information technology in achieving good governance

Mr. Anand said that considerable initiatives in E-Governance were taken by the State governments in India with a special mention of Andhra Pradesh which has done a commendable job in this sector. He added that states like Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat, Karnataka, Delhi have also undertaken innovative projects which have brought in transparency to the governance system.

Mr. Anand was optimistic and said that India is likely to soon emerge as a leader in E-Governance especially when the country is focused on e-commerce and Information Technology (IT) and given the current high level of political commitment and largely adequate sources of funding. He also added that Prime Minister Narendra Modi ji’s call for ‘Digital India' and a ‘Paperless Government’ has created ripples in the domestic market and the vendors and manufacturers should not waste this big opportunity which can propel India on the world stage.

In his Address in the Inaugural Session, Mr. Milan Narendra, Partner, Ernst and Young India spoke on the theme ‘Global Learning for Feasible and Sustainable model of UHC in India’.

Mr. Narendra mentioned that there are 6 pillars of UHC defined by World Health Organisation which are: Healthcare Financing; Availability of essential medicines and healthcare products; Policies; Motivated Workforce; Proactiveness in providing healthcare delivery and Availability of Information Statistics & Information systems.
Mr. Narendra said that there has been a lot of work happening in India with respect to healthcare delivery which is at par with the global practices. He mentioned that IT today has a major role in effective healthcare delivery. Adding further he said that IT has a key role in mitigating frauds.

Mr. Milan Narendra said that Ministry of Health is running a program with United Nation Development Programme (UNDP) on vaccination where cold chain handlers and vaccines are being managed across different states which is an encouraging sign.

Mr. Narendra cited the example of countries including Bangladesh, Singapore and Thailand as to how proper planning and execution in phases made their healthcare delivery models successful.

Mr. Milan Narendra stressed that from India’s perspective there is a requirement for Integrated Health Management which covers various aspects including predictive analytics, personalised records and information exchange system.




Extreme Right: Prof. Suptendra Nath Sarbadhikari, Project Director, National Institute of Health and Family Welfare (NIHFW) giving his address in the Inaugural Session Prof. Suptendra Nath Sarbadhikari, Project Director, National Institute of Health and Family Welfare (NIHFW) in his Address in the Inaugural Session talked on the theme ‘eHealth in Digital India’.

In his opening remarks Prof. Suptendra Nath Sarbadhikari said that the Government of India is about to come up with revised guidelines for Electronic Health Records (HER).He elaborated that first set of guidelines came up in August 2013 and said that the latest guidelines have been approved by the Health Ministry and would soon be published on their website.

Prof. Sarbadhikari said that along with e-Health, Sanitation and Nutrition are equally important for having good health. Prof. Sarbadhikari mentioned that E- Governance today is ‘need of the hour’ and said that e-Healthcare is an important component of ‘Digital India’ programme which is on the core agenda of the Government of India.

Prof Sarbadhikari said that a major reason for Bangladesh being successful in the Healthcare sector is due to involvement of non government sector. He added that Sri Lanka is the second country after Maldives to be declared ‘Malaria Free’. Prof. Sarbadhikari said that India must take cue from its neighbours on implementation of healthcare service delivery.

Given the rising no. of Smartphones and Internet users in India, Prof. Sarbadhikari mentioned that Government had taken several steps to reduce the complexity of the healthcare system in India and providing services online in the form of websites like Data.gov.in and National Health Portal (NHP). He said that these sites have made it easier for user to access wide range of information as a large amount of information is uploaded by the Ministry on these websites.

Prof. Sarbadhikari also mentioned that the Health Ministry was envisaging Integrated Health Information Platform (IHIP) and the purpose of the same would be to develop a facilitating ecosystem for smooth adoption of e-Health throughout India.

Mr. Vivek Seigell, Director, PHD Chamber said that the technology is most important and only factor which can ensure how healthcare delivery can reach the last mile. He said that 70% of healthcare delivery happens through the private sector in India and suggested that the Government must increase the allocation in healthcare in the budget which would benefit all.

Mr. Seigell also mentioned that it is commendable that the Government has become proactive over past 2 years and are inviting all relevant stakeholders from the industry before making finalising and framing National policies.





Left to Right: Mr. Chandrakant Mishra, Head Government Business, Religare; Dr. Vajahat Talib, Director, Gentrac Labs; Dr. K L Ramesh, HOD – Biochemistry Department, Dr. Ram Manohar Lohia Hospital, Prof. Suptendra Nath Sarbadhikari, Project Director, National Institute of Health and Family Welfare (NIHFW) ;Mr. S K Sethi, Vice President, Insurance Foundation of India and Mr. Vivek Seigell, Director, PHD Chamber during the Plenary Session.




Right to Left: Mr. Sanjeev Shriya, Chairman, Committee on Electronics and ICT, PHD Chamber presenting a memento to Prof. Suptendra Nath Sarbadhikari, Project Director, National Institute of Health and Family Welfare (NIHFW) along with Mr. Atul Anand, Co-Chairman, Committee on Electronics and ICT, PHD Chamber




Right to Left: Mr. Atul Anand, Co- Chairman, Committee on Electronics and ICT,PHD Chamber presenting memento to Mr. Milan Narendra, Partner, Ernst and Young India

Plenary Session
The Plenary session was Chaired by Prof. Suptendra Nath Sarbadhikari, Project Director, National Institute of Health and Family Welfare (NIHFW) and moderated by Mr. Vivek Seigell, Director Electronics and ICT Committee, PHD Chamber.

Eminent speakers included Mr. Chandrakant Mishra, Head Government Business, Religare; Dr. Vajahat Talib, Director, Gentrac Labs; Dr. K L Ramesh, HOD – Biochemistry Department, Dr. Ram Manohar Lohia Hospital; Mr. S K Sethi, Vice President, Insurance Foundation of India and Mr. Debaparatim Dey, Sales Business Unit Head - Health and ID, Safran Limited.

Mr. Chandrakant Mishra, Head Government Business, Religare said that public health budget in India is lowest in the world with 1% of GDP. He mentioned that the Government schemes like RSBY and Rajiv Aarogyasri Community Health Insurance Scheme have not met the desired results due to low awareness, low participation and exclusion of minor ailments in these schemes.
He said that in order to have effective implementation of Universal Health Coverage there is a need to mix public funded insurance scheme with private sector specialised schemes.

Dr. Vajahat Talib, Director, Gentrac Labs said that delay in the reimbursement has been the biggest problem in the Health insurance sector in India. He said that there is a time delay in system which should be tackled when it comes to handling of patients.

Dr. Talib also mentioned that when it comes to practicality, a lot of frauds have also come up related to reimbursement of insurance claims for which the Government should boost the IT infrastructure. He mentioned that the process should be automated and carried out electronically with real time alerts being sent to the user for tracking his claim.

Mr. S K Sethi, Vice President, Insurance Foundation of India expressed concern on the state of healthcare facilities even in villages 20 km from Delhi in Noida and Gurgaon. Mr. Sethi said that if the Government plans to take Universal Health Coverage (UHC) they should open medical college in each and every district of India. He added that this step would help heck the shortage of doctors, nurses and paramedics staff in the country.

Mr. Sethi also said that states like Tamil Nadu, Karntataka and Andhra Pradesh have successfully implemented the Rashtriya Swasthya Bima Yojana (RSBY) and said that other states must also take cue from these states.

Mr. Sethi also said that a lot of confusion is created in the minds of people due to renaming of insurance schemes and thus hampers the objective of UHC’s.

Mr. Debaparatim Dey, Sales Business Unit Head - Health and ID, Safran Limited in his address spoke on ‘use of biometric identity and managing health plan interaction through electronic transactions’. He mentioned that both Central and State Governments have taken keen interest in implementing E-Governance initiatives in India. He added that the health insurance cover has grown considerably over the past decade and this is primarily due to RSBY.

Mr. Dey said that 2 key areas which drive the government initiatives are security and identity.
Mr. Dey said that biometric technology represents the future for positive healthcare identification and would enhance the secure use, storage, and exchange of personal health information.

Dr. K L Ramesh, HOD, Biochemistry Department, Dr. Ram Manohar Lohia Hospital in his address mentioned that Government Hospitals like AIIMS, Safdarjung and Dr. Ram Manohar Lohia Hospital are upgrading their IT infrastructure in order to provide the best services to the patients. He said that the patients get an appointment with the doctor through their website without directly approaching him or talking to him on a telephone.
Adding further Dr. Ramesh said that payment system has also been updated in most of the Government Hospitals. He said that the Dr. Ram Manohar Lohia Hospital carries out 10000-13000 tests per day in a computerised manner and the reports generated are ‘Paperless’.

Among the future initiatives Dr. Ramesh said that the Government of India would soon provide diagnostic facilities at village as well as small taluka level. He also mentioned that planning is going on for the implementation of Pradhan Mantri Swasthya Seva Yojana and said that it would take some time to implement.

Mr. Vivek Seigell, Director, PHD Chamber said that as an industry Chamber, PHD Chamber looks forward to setting up of a regulatory mechanism which can promote and cultivate the habit of creating health data. Adding further he said that technology enablers must work to ensure that there is no duplication of data.

Mr. Vivek Seigell also mentioned that if National Control Diseases are controlled, they can contribute 2% of GDP of the country.

The Association partners for the Conference were Life Insurance Council (LIC) and Association of Healthcare Providers India (AHPI). Media Partners for the Conference were EFY Group, EE Herald, Governance Today, B-Positive and Medgate Today Magazine.

News Source: PHD Chamber
Author: Srinivasa Reddy N
Author: Srinivasa Reddy N