Aarogya Setu App is Must for All - Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA)

 Aarogya Setu App is Must for All - Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA)

Aarogya Setu App is Mandatory for All - Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA)

                        The government has made using the Aarogya Setu app mandatory for all public and private sector employees by announcing another extension of the ongoing blockade to contain the COVID-19 pandemic. It has also made the application mandatory for people residing in the COVID-19 Containment Zones to allow for intensive surveillance and contact tracing in those areas. The government has asked the authorities to guarantee full coverage of the application among those residents. Aarogya Setu was featured as a voluntary app by the government in early April, and has seen massive growth in usage thanks to its usage promoted by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and establishments like CBSE.

Aarogya Setu must for all employees

                         The Ministry of the Home Affairs (MHA) said in its directive: "The use of the Aarogya Setu application will be mandatory for all employees, both private and public. It will be the responsibility of the head of the respective organizations to guarantee 100 percent coverage of this application among employees. The government announced the use of Aarogya Setu as mandatory for every individual.

                        In the guidelines, MHA said: "Private offices can operate with up to 33 percent strength as required, with the rest of the people working from home." It is also implied that in the Orange and Green Zones, 100 percent force is allowed. Government offices in the Red Zone will be allowed to operate in full force for senior officers at the undersecretary level and above, with "remaining staff assisting up to 33 percent as required."

Mandatory in Containment Zones

                        The MHA guidelines also stated that authorities will ensure that the Aarogya Setu app is used by everyone in the Containment Zones. 

                      Aarogya Setu, released in early April, is a contact tracking app that uses users' Bluetooth and GPS data for this purpose. The government has decided to conduct intensive surveillance to trace contacts in the containment areas. While not yet mandatory for everyone in India, its use has been vigorously promoted by government leaders and authorities.

Privacy concerns around Aarogya Setu

                      The app has also raised privacy concerns. Experts have said that the application requires much more data than necessary and does not meet the standards set by contact tracking applications in other countries. The use of GPS-based location data is a major concern. NITI Aayog has defended the use of the application and said that the GPS data helps to find new access points. He claimed that location data is not used by the app individually, but in aggregate.