THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: In a major move, the state government has set up a two-member expert committee to look into the Sprinklr deal. The committee will check whether the privacy of personal and sensitive data of individuals has been protected.The two-member expert committee will have M Madhavan Nambiar, former civil aviation secretary and former secretary, information technology, Government of India, as its chairman and Rajeev Sadanandan, former additional chief secretary (Health and Family Welfare) Government of Kerala, as member.
The committee will examine whether the privacy of personal and sensitive data of individuals has been adequately protected under the agreements entered into with Sprinklr Inc, whether adequate procedures have been followed while finalising the arrangements with Sprinklr Inc, whether deviations, if any, are fair, justified and reasonable considering extraordinary and critical situation the state was facing at the relevant period and any other suggestions for future guidance.
The committee should submit its report to the government within a month. The committee will be given necessary technical and secretariat assistance by the Indian Institute of Information Technology and Management Kerala.
The government said the expert committee has been set up after certain issues were raised in the public domain whether the arrangements made with Sprinklr was in accordance with the laid-down procedures and done after taking necessary safeguards to protect the privacy of citizens’ data. Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan was forced to appoint a committee after the Sprinklr row had snowballed in to a major controversy over the last two weeks. The government felt that a probe has to be initiated after the Opposition has politically cashed in on the controversy.
Rajeev Sadanandan is currently the CEO of Tata Trust-funded Health Systems Transformation Platform after retirement during last May as additional chief secretary handling the department of health and family welfare.