NEW DELHI: Aarogya Setu, the government’s Covid-19 contact tracing app, could turn out to be the mother of all apps related to the virus outbreak.
The government is planning to incorporate all Covid-19 virus related information and services within the application.
The plans include making it a single point of access for food shelters, night shelters as well as Suraksha retail stores that are being launched across the country.
A national telemedicine platform may also be integrated within the app so that people with any illness can consult a doctor remotely, according to senior government officials. The app could also become the single interface for all curfew passes as the government seeks to make sure that no person who is at risk is allowed to travel anywhere once the lockdown is lifted partially after April 20, and fully from May 3.
“Once the lockdown is lifted, the risk will increase exponentially, that’s why we want to make sure that everyone has the app downloaded on their phones,” a senior government official told ET.
The government is discussing with the states, since they do the last-mile integration, the official added. Following Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s request on April 14, nearly 20 million people have installed the app in just two days, taking the total number of downloads to over 60 million.
“Our aim is to ensure that all smartphones users in the country have the app since it will function to its full potential only when everyone installs it. We are targeting close to 350 million people,” the official said.
To speed up downloads, the government is also coming up with a massive campaign on social media platforms. It is currently in talks with celebrities to do fun gigs on platforms such as short-video messaging app TikTok and others to make the app popular.
Source: indiatimes.com
