New Delhi: The ‘Aarogy Setu Interactive Voice Response System (IVRS)’ has been implemented. This is to include citizens with feature phones and landline connections under the ambit of the ‘Aarogya Setu’ mobile application. The information was given Wednesday by the Union Health Ministry has said. It urged people to download the application for combating COVID-19.
Toll free service
The ‘Aarogy Setu IVRS’ is a toll-free service. It is available across the country. Citizens can give a missed call to the number ‘1921’. They will get a call back soon requesting for inputs regarding their health, the ministry said in a statement.
“The questions asked are aligned with ‘Aarogy Setu App’. Based on the responses given, citizens will also get an SMS. It will indicate their health status and further alerts for improving their health,” the ministry said.
The toll-free service is implemented in 11 regional languages similar to the mobile application.
The inputs provided by citizens will be made part of the Aarogy Setu database. The information will be processed to send alerts to people on the action to be taken to ensure their safety.
Health Ministry appeal
The Health Ministry has time and again urged citizens to download the mobile application. The app will enable them to assess the risk of catching the novel coronavirus infection. The dreaded virus has claimed 1,694 lives and infected 49,391 people across India country so far. Close to nine crore users have downloaded the ‘Aarogya Setu’ mobile application so far, a ministry official said.
Opposition charges rejected
Meanwhile, the Centre rejected Wednesday charges by the Opposition that the application breached privacy. Union IT Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad asserted the platform is ‘absolutely robust, safe and secure’ in terms of privacy protection.
The response came after a French hacker and cyber security expert Elliot Alderson came up with new disclosures. They said that ‘a security issue has been found’ in the ‘Aarogya Setu’. So ‘privacy of 90 million Indians is at stake’.
Mandatory for government employees
The Centre had Friday made it mandatory for government and private sector employees to use the ‘Aarogya Setu’ mobile application. It will help to bolster the efforts to fight the COVID-19 pandemic.
The health ministry also informed how the app works. The user, upon installation of the application, is asked to answer a number of questions. In case some of the answers suggest COVID-19 symptoms, the information will be sent to a government server.
“The data will then help the government take timely steps and initiate the isolation procedure if necessary. It also alerts if someone comes in close proximity with a person who has tested positive,” the ministry said.
The application is available on both Google Play (for Android users) and iOS app store (for iPhone). It is also available in 10 Indian languages and English, the ministry added.
Agencies