By ARUN PRATAP SINGH
Garhwal Post Bureau
Dehradun, 10 Sep: The Sports Department has allegedly been locked out of its own web portal and mobile application after officials of the company entrusted with developing and operating the digital platforms changed the website credentials and access without the department’s permission. The incident has reportedly affected several departmental schemes and programmes. Not only this, allegations have also been levelled that the data of lakhs of children may have been compromised.
The schemes reportedly affected include the Champions Trophy, Udiyman Khiladi Unnayan Yojana and Digital Youth Festival. In connection with the matter, Adarsh Pant, Nodal Officer of the IT Cell, lodged an FIR at Raipur police station on Tuesday.
In his complaint to the police, Pant has stated that the Sports Department’s website was being operated by Khelo Tech Strategy Private Limited. He has levelled allegations against the company’s Chief Executive Officer Anshul Bagai. It may be recalled that the company had been entrusted with the development and operation of the departmental web portal and mobile application under the terms of a tender and it was operating the official sports portal on behalf of the sports department for quite some time. In fact, it was also involved in these operations during the last national games played in Uttarakhand.
As part of the arrangement, the company had been provided the necessary credentials and access to the portal and app. However, according to the complaint, the company subsequently disabled the credentials and access without obtaining the department’s consent or giving it prior information. As a result, the department’s control over its own digital systems has been disrupted and the department officials can’t log into the portal anymore. However, the portal still appears to be operational and Garhwal Post found the portal to be working but perhaps only for the visitors.
The complaint states that the alleged action resulted in serious technical difficulties in the operation of important government programmes and schemes of the department. These include the Champions Trophy, Udiyman Khiladi Unnayan Yojana and Digital Youth Festival.
The complaint has also raised concerns over the security of the data relating to beneficiaries, including the possibility that data of lakhs of children may have been compromised or accessed without authorisation. The exact nature and extent of any alleged data breach, however, is yet to be established.
Speaking to Garhwal Post, Raipur SHO Sanjeet Kumar confirmed that FIR has been registered but added that the case is likely to get transferred to Cyber Cell of the Police for further investigation. The police are expected to examine the terms and conditions under which the company had been granted access to the departmental portal and app and whether it had any authority to withdraw or disable such access. In addition, the police are also likely to examine the allegation that the access of the sports department officials has been deliberately disabled without the department’s permission. The investigation will establish whether there has been any violation of the agreed terms and whether any departmental data was accessed, removed or compromised.
