Students build bot to ensure Covid-19 afflicted families get verified medical leads

As India battles its second wave of the Covid-19 outbreak, people are fighting on multiple fronts as there are also a parallel outburst of fake and misleading information. To solve this challenge, two students – Rahul Raina and Naman Gupta have used technology to solve the problem by developing a Twitter based Covid India resource bot.

You can tweet your medical requirements to the newly launched chatbot @CovidIndResBot, which replies with resources verified in real time. Their tech also automates calling to numbers on a database, hence authenticating its legitimacy in real time. From hospital beds, to oxygen cylinders, to medicines, the bot responds to a diverse set of requirements in a timely, verified manner, thereby helping people during these challenging times.

Raina and Gupta are students of School of Accelerated Learning (SOAL), an alternative to university, where they learned Fullstack JavaScript and how to build products. The initiative has taken place under the guidance of SOAL CEO, Co-founder, Raj Desai. The trio further collaborated with a motley group of developers and startups including The Product Folks, TravelXP and IntroBot to create a unified verified database along with the Twitter bot. This approach ensures that people do not have to spend time calling unreachable numbers, thereby saving critical time at their hour of need.

Speaking on the development, Raj Desai, Co-Founder and CEO, SOAL said, “Today, Covid-19 has led to a simultaneous outbreak of misinformation. Such unverified information needlessly prevents people from getting timely help and support. When it comes to the recovery of a patient, even an hour of early admission can make all the difference. Gen Z are problem solvers. Rahul and Naman have taken the fight where it matters and this will go a long way in saving several lives across India. We also appreciate the support of The Product Folks, Introbot, and TravelXP for their contributions in the initiative.”