Saturday, April 25, 2020

Chandigarh, April 25 – Taking Haryana further on the Digital track to help fight COVID-19 Pandemic, Haryana Chief Minister, Mr. Manohar Lal today launched a mobile application ‘HelpMe’, which aims to provide all the necessary services including telemedicine, movement passes, assistance in procurement, delivery of dry ration and cooked food, education material, etc, in a single application, amid Corona crisis.

The mobile application, which has been especially designed to help the needy during the on-going Corona crisis, works on Android Osis available on Android Play store compatible with any android based Smartphone, and aims to facilitate people of the State with just a click.

The Chief Minister said that all the eligible people who have green cards i.e APL card holders and some poor people who were not able to get a BPL card due to any reason, but have applied for it, would get three-month free ration i.e till June 30 from the ration shops. He said that online portals have been opened for issuing ‘Distress Ration Tokens’ to these people. On-line permission would be given to open shops in industrial and commercial institutions and rural areas from tomorrow, he added.

The Chief Minister launched the application while interacting with the people about the present situation of COVID-19 in the State during the 'Haryana Aaj' programme today.

The Chief Minister shared that this application enables citizens to make request for Dry Ration, Cooked Food, LPG cylinders, Ambulance, Doctor, Movement pass, Bank appointments etc. as per need. He said that the moment any citizen fills the options as per his or her requirement on the application, his request would immediately be forwarded to the concerned officer of the relevant district to take necessary action. Further the officer will inform about the completion of the task to the citizen. He said that the app also helps the farmers in obtaining the gate pass to sell his crops in the Mandi. Citizens seeking financial aid are also provided with the option to check their eligibility and status of their application in real time.

Lauding the officers and team members who have designed the application, the Chief Minister said that the application was developed by a team of officers.

Sharing more details on how to use the application, Additional Principal Secretary to Chief Minister, Mr. V. Umashankar, shared that the application, is available in both Hindi and English languages on the Android Play store. He said that the application, which is GPS enabled, aims to provide the necessary timely help to every individual. He shared that to use the application, the user needs to first download the app from the play store and register on it.

Principal Secretary, Skill Development and Industrial Training Department, Mr. Vijayendra Kumar further shared that three options have been made available on the app. These options are for those who wish to help the people in the hour of crisis. People can come forward to help the needy as volunteers, make contributions of ration to any needy person and also contribute in Haryana Corona Relief Fund.

He shared that the application even gives an option to people to get home delivery of cash. He said that to use this facility, the user has to opt for this option, after which, the cash would be delivered through postal banking without any postal charges.

The Chief Minister said that compared to other states Haryana is in a better position as the recovery rate of Corona patients in the State is 66.55 percent. In terms of recovery rate, Haryana is second in the country after Kerala. He said that there are 12 districts of the state where at present there is not even a single active positive case of COVID-19, therefore these districts have been added to the green zone. He said that at the national level the number of Corona infected patients is doubling every 7 days whereas in Haryana the number of patients is doubling in 18 days and the graph of Corona has come to a horizontal position, the Chief Minister added.

The Chief Minister said that in the battle of Corona, we do not have to fear or lose hope; rather we have to defeat Corona and win against it. Thus we will defeat Corona in Haryana and eradicate it from India.