Indian authorities A few weeks back unveiled the Aarogya Setu app to educate the country¡¯s citizens in the fight against the coronavirus pandemic.?
The app is primarily created to connect essential health services with the people of India.
The app within 12 days of launch managed to cross 50 million downloads (5 crores) on Google Play Store.?
Celebrating this milestone, NITI Aayog CEO Amitabh Kant shared a tweet stating, ¡°Telephone took 75 years to reach 50 million users, radio 38 yrs, television 13 yrs, Internet 4 yrs, Facebook 19 months, Pokemon Go 19 days. #AarogyaSetu, India¡¯s app to fight COVID-19 has reached 50 mn users in just 13 days-fastest ever globally for an App Salute the spirit of India!¡±
The surge in downloads was witnessed just after PM Modi¡¯s address on April 14th, when he announced the extension of the COVID-19 lockdown till May 3. He made people aware of the app urged them to download it, to prevent themselves from contracting COVID-19.?
Developed by the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology in a partnership with NIC, the app harnesses smartphone¡¯s location data as well as Bluetooth to see if someone has crossed paths with a COVID-19 infected person.?
Authorities have also promised that the data collected by the app will be only used by the Government of India and won¡¯t be shared with any other third parties.?The app also helps the users track their nearest COVID-19 help centre. Along with this, they¡¯ve listed contact information for COVID-19 centres in each state across the nation.?
The app is also home to a chatbot that helps people clear their doubts about COVID-19 in English as well as Hindi while giving users update. Aarogya Setu is available to download for free on Android and iOS.?