COVID-19: Bhubaneswar Civic Body Launches App For Vulnerable People

Bhubaneswar: The Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation (BMC) on Friday launched a mobile app ‘Sachetak’, especially meant for vulnerable section of people, and an awareness campaign ‘Mo Sapatha, Nua Abhyasa’.

Sachetak is meant to help the elderly people and those with comorbidities and pregnant women, who are most vulnerable to COVID- 19. The app works as one-stop-solution for providing various services such as fixing an appointment with doctors nearby, options for home delivery of essential items and medicines, updates about COVID-19, quarantine centres, number of persons in quarantine in their areas or ward, number of positive cases and deaths.

The Sachetak app is available for download on the Google and Apple play stores and one can view it on www.sachetakapp.in.

The BMC has formed Ward Level Committees. Each committee comprises around 25 members selected from different groups such as Biju Yuva Vahini members, local SHG groups, NGOs, volunteers and local club members.

These committee members are designated as ‘COVID Sachetak’ and will create awareness in ensuring adherence to COVID-19 norms like wearing masks, social distancing and hand washing.

The ‘Mo Sapatha, Nua Abhyasa’ awareness drive launched by the BMC aims to inform, educate and motivate people to change their habits, behaviour and social etiquettes to adapt to new realities and learn how to live with the virus.

Under this initiative, the civic body wants people to obey and strictly follow five major practices such as wearing face masks, regular hand washing with soap or sanitiser, maintaining social distancing in public places, not spitting in public and taking care of vulnerable and persons with comorbidity.

As part of the community surveillance, BMC teams have visited and conducted more than 92,000 household surveys. The BMC has arranged over 1520 rooms in 12 paid and 6 free quarantine centres in the city to accommodate people coming from other states and countries.