Aarogya Setu's website says it was developed by the National Informatics Centre & the Information Technology Ministry but according to the Central Information Commission, various ministries & departments had given "evasive answers" to an RTI query on who created the Aarogya Setu.
In the earlier days when govt was promoting it heavily, it was known that NITI Aayog, a government think tank, developed Aarogya Setu with the help of developers from popular consumer startups such as MakeMyTrip and 1mg.
The Aarogya Setu app began as a contact tracing app. It amassed more than 100 million downloads in India. And then, it included an ancillary service called Aarogya Setu Mitr, which included telemedicine and e-pharmacies.
Alongside telemedicine startups, the biggest beneficiaries of Aarogya Setu Mitr were e-pharmacies such as 1mg, PharmEasy, & Practo. And the biggest losers? An organized body of 850,000 chemist outlets throughout the country, which saw this as giving undue advantage to companies.
The government has been very keen to push for the adoption of Aarogya Setu, which is both built and maintained by the companies that see the business sense in Aarogya Setu Mitr. Incentives upon incentives.
On 10 May, the Swadeshi Jagaran Manch, a political and cultural organisation & an affiliate of the RSS, said the Centre’s contact tracing app Aarogya Setu was promoting four venture-funded e-pharmacies. It asked for a level playing field for other pharmacies, online and offline.
In all likelihood, e-pharmacies won’t be kept away from Aarogya Setu for very long, just as they weren’t kept away from operating even after an e-pharmacy ban. Wait to see them rebrand and re-enter.
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