India may make 'Aarogya Setu' coronavirus tracing app mandatory for flyers

The Covid tracing application has created a world record in being the fastest app to reach 50 million users.

India is considering making Aarogya Setu (health bridge), the mobile application to help track Covid-19 patients, mandatory for air passengers during the post-lockdown days, officials have said.

The app has alerted around 140,000 users in the country about a possible risk of infection due to proximity to infected persons.

"Preliminary discussions regarding making this app mandatory for air passengers have been done with airlines," the officials said on Monday, adding that the Ministry of Civil Aviation is yet to take a final decision.

"If the proposal is approved in the Aviation ministry, passengers who do not have the app on their phone would not be allowed to board their flight," the officials said.

The government app gives colour coded-designation to users as per their health status and travel history. It helps the user know if he or she is near anyone who has tested positive for the virus.

The number of users of Aarogya Setu is expected to increase substantially with the Railways making use of this application mandatory for passengers taking the 15 special trains operating from Delhi to several cities.
The Railways said it would run eight trains from Tuesday as part of the gradual resumption of passenger train services suspended since March 25.

Meanwhile, Ajay Sawhney, Chairman of the Empowered Group 9 which deals with Technology and Data Management in the fight against Covid-19, said the app will soon reach a user base of 100 million. He was giving an update on the use of the tool that enables better 'contact tracing' - one of the key elements in fighting infectious diseases using a mobile phone.



Around 98 million people have downloaded Aarogya Setu and it is available in 12 languages, Sawhney told a media briefing.

The application has created a world record in being the fastest app to reach 50 million users, he said.

Sawhney reiterated that it is used only for health interventions, and does not reveal the identity of people.