Aarogya Setu App developed in a collaborative effort of Government and Private Sector, clarifies Ministry

After Central Information Commission (CIC) has issued a show-cause notice to the NIC for withholding information on Arogya Setu, Ministry has clarified that the Aarogya Setu app was developed in the most transparent manner with public-private collaboration in record time to fight the coronavirus.

New Delhi:The Aarogya Setu app was developed in the most transparent manner with public-private collaboration in record time to fight the coronavirus, the government said today, in a detailed clarification after reports that ministries denied any knowledge of who created the app.

Central Information Commission (CIC) has issued a show-cause notice to central public information officers (CPIOs) of Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MEITY), National Informatics Centre and National e-Governance Division for withholding information on Arogya Setu and providing an evasive reply to an RTI application on the app.

"The Aarogya Setu app was developed in a record time of around 21 days, to respond to the exigencies of the Pandemic with Lockdown restrictions only for the objective of building a Made in India Contact Tracing App with the best of Indian minds from Industry, Academia and Government, working round the clock to build a robust, scalable and secure app," said Ministry of Electronics and IT in a statement.

"There should be no doubt with regard to the Aarogya Setu app and its role in helping contain the COVID-19 pandemic in India," it added.

Over 16.23 crore Indians have installed the Aarogya Setu, a contact tracing app that the government pushed as an essential tool in the fight against the coronavirus. But while Aarogya Setu's website says it was developed by the National Informatics Centre and the Information Technology ministry, the Central Information Commission has issued notice to the government for "evasive answers" on who created the Aarogya Setu app.

The statement issued by Ministry of Electronics and IT reads," As it has been mentioned earlier, the App has been developed in a collaborative effort of Government and Private Sector. The App has been downloaded by more than 16.23 crore users and has greatly augmented the efforts of frontline health workers in the fight against COVID19.

It has helped identify Bluetooth contacts of COVID positive users and issued alerts for helping people to stay safe. These Bluetooth contacts have been advised for caution, quarantine or testing depending on the extent of exposure to COVID19 positive user".

Amongst those who have been advised testing, almost 25% have tested positive. This is much higher compared to the overall positivity rate of 7 8%. Thus, the efficiency of testing has gone up with Aarogya Setu. ln addition, Aarogya Setu ITIHAS interface with location data has helped identify emerging hotspots where proactive steps have been taken by Health authorities and administration in order to contain the spread of the Virus.

Thus, Aarogya Setu has proved to be very useful in India’s fight against COVID19. Recently, WHO has also appreciated the role of Aarogya Setu in containing the pandemic in India, it added. Denial of information by authorities cannot be accepted," the top RTI body said in its notice asking departments concerned to appear before it on November 24.

"None of the Chief Public Information Officers were able to explain anything regarding who created the app, where are the files, and this is extremely preposterous." The RTI body has also issued show-cause notices to Chief Public Information Officers and the National e-Governance Division. The notice questions why the government should not face action for "prima facie obstruction of information" and giving an "evasive reply".

The National Informatics Centre reportedly said that the "entire file related to creation of the App is not with NIC". The IT ministry transferred the query to the National e-Governance Division, which said: "The information sought is not related to (our division)."

Concerns over the app and its security aspects have been raised before. Congress leader Rahul Gandhi had earlier accused the government of breaching data security. “The Arogya Setu app, is a sophisticated surveillance system, outsourced to a pvt operator, with no institutional oversight - raising serious data security & privacy concerns. Technology can help keep us safe; but fear must not be leveraged to track citizens without their consent,” he had tweeted.

Union minister Ravi Shankar Prasad had then refuted the allegations and asserted that Aarogya Setu has not been outsourced to any private operator.

IANS Report