Jammu: The Jammu and Kashmir government on Wednesday designated two nodal officers for the effective rollout and streamlined execution of the MedleaPR, a dedicated portal for uploading medico-legal reports (MLRs) and postmortem reports (PMRs) which play a crucial role in criminal prosecutions.
In an order, Health and Medical Education Secretary Syed Abid Rasheed Shah said from now onwards all MLRs and PMRs shall be processed and issued through the MedleaPR portal hosted at the State Data Centre.
“In exceptional and urgent situations where technical issues prevent online reports (the reasons to be recorded in writing on the report), the MLRs and PMRs may be issued through offline mode, however, the report so issued shall also be registered online post facto on the portal as soon as possible,” the order read.
It said the MLRs and PMRs are mostly penned by the doctors in handwritten notes, leading to issues of illegibility and disputes over authenticity during trials in courts.
In order to remedy the issue, a technical solution — MedLEaPR system — was devised in which MLRs and PMRs are uploaded via the online portal.
“… the doctors who have to give MLRs and PMRS are already registered on the MedleaPR portal, besides, there are 160 master trainers who have been imparted training in every medical institute/district,” the order said.
To ensure effective rollout and streamline execution of the MedleaPR initiative across the J&K, the order said Arslan F Rashid, Head of Department of Forensic Medicine and Toxicology, Government Medical College, Srinagar is appointed as the Nodal Officer for Jammu Division while Azia Manzoor Bhat, Assistant Professor, Department of Forensic Medicine and Toxicology, Government Medical College, Anantnag is appointed as Nodal Officer for Kashmir Division.
The nodal officers will coordinate with relevant stakeholders (liaise with doctors for consistent usage) to facilitate seamless implementation of the MedleaPR platform, monitor and evaluate the progress of the project in their respective divisions and address issues faced by the doctors while using the portal, the order said.
They will also address operational challenges and ensure timely resolution of the issues that may arise during implementation, monitor and support the 160 trained master trainers, ensure compliance that all MLRs and PMRs are entered online and ensure that offline reports (if issued) are uploaded post-facto basis.
The nodal officers will also provide regular updates and feedback to the Central Coordination Team to support data-driven improvement and policy decisions and will submit regular (monthly) reports to the administrative department.
On January 10, the Medico Legal Manual submitted by the inter-departmental committee, consisting of members from health, law and home departments, constituted by the General Administration Department has been notified with further directions that MLRs and PMRs shall henceforth be issued through the MedleaPR portal in addition to regular modes currently in place in the Union territory.
