Coronavirus: PM Modi urges people to share technology-driven solutions, win money
The Narendra Modi-led government has started a COVID-19 Solution Challenge so that individuals and companies can submit tech-based ideas against coronavirus, and win Rs 1 lakh.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday evening took to micro-blogging site Twitter to urge people to come forward and share technology-driven solutions for COVID-19 or the novel coronavirus on the government’s portal mygov.in.
The government has started a COVID-19 ‘Solution Challenge’ on the mygov.in platform, where individuals and companies can submit their tech-based ideas for “strengthening the fight against coronavirus”, and stand a chance to win Rs 1 lakh.
“The most important factor in preventing the spread of the virus locally is to empower the citizens with the right information and taking precautions as per the advisories being issued by (the) Ministry of Health and Family Welfare. Further, we are also getting inputs with regard to individuals and companies who have developed technologies and innovative solutions, Bioinformatics, datasets, apps for diagnosis etc., that can be leveraged for strengthening the fight against Corona,” reads a statement on the COVID-19 Solution Challenge page of mygov.in.
The mygov.in website was launched by the government in 2014 as a citizen engagement platform to promote the active participation of citizens in the country's governance and development. The aim of the platform is to crowdsource governance ideas from citizens.
The statement goes on to read: “In order to involve the community in the fight against the virus, we would want you to share your solutions to help fight coronavirus. Submitted solutions will be evaluated for adoption and those selected will be suitably rewarded. Be a part of the mission against coronavirus!”
The novel coronavirus has killed more than 6,500 people across the world and infected over 1,69,000, according to Johns Hopkins University, which is tracking cases reported by the World Health Organisation (WHO) and additional sources.
India has reported two deaths linked to coronavirus, and another 114 cases of confirmed infections.
(Edited by Saheli Sen Gupta)
