Download Aarogya Setu, govt tells Central staff

For the safety of all government officials, Union Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions on Wednesday issued an order for all Central government employees to "immediately" download Aarogya Setu App on their mobile phones.

Issued to all Ministries, departments of Central government, Prime Minister's Office (PMO), Cabinet Secretariat and others, the order mentions that effective use of Aarogya Setu App aimed to break the chain of transmission of novel coronavirus or COVID-19.

In the order, the Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT) said: "All the officers, staff (including outsourced staff) working in Central government should download 'Aarogya Setu' App on their mobile phones, immediately".

Before starting for office, the order mentions, all the Central government staff must review their status on 'Aarogya Setu' and commute only when the app shows 'safe' or 'low risk' status.

The officers and staff are advised that in case the App shows a message that he or she has a 'moderate' or 'high risk' calculated on the basis of Bluetooth proximity ("recent contact with infected person"), he or she should not come to office and self-isolate for 14 days or till the status becomes 'safe' or 'low risk'.

Joint Secretary (Administration) should ensure that above directions are strictly followed in the respective Ministry and department, the order said.

Ministries and departments may issue similar instructions to all autonomous or statutory bodies, Public Sector Units (PSUs) attached to them, the order advised.

Aarogya Setu is a COVID-19 tracking mobile application developed by the National Informatics Centre that comes under the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology, government of India.

The App is aimed at augmenting the initiatives of the Central government, particularly the department of health, in proactively reaching out to and informing the users of the app regarding risks, best practices and relevant advisories pertaining to the containment of COVID-19.