The Department of Consumer Affairs has partnered with tech startups Safejob and Seekify to use technology to prevent the spread of Covid-19 at the local Kirana store level. The Suraksha Store initiative is designed for the health and safety of the citizens during and after the lockdown, as per the companies’ joint release.

The primary objective of this project is to educate Kirana store owners across the country about the Covid-19 safety guidelines and protocols required to be followed while running their businesses.

The protocols were decided by the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) and the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) and included norms around social distancing and hygiene at all retail outlets. The objective was to allow consumers to use the Aarogya Setu app to find a Suraksha Store near them and shop, companies mentioned.

The Centre asked to get 2 million retailers for the initiative.

Suraksha norms

Seekify, a Sequoia’s Surge funded company, has developed an online learning software. They partnered with Safejob to build a custom solution for registering Kirana store owners, their employees, capturing their location, and allowing them to complete online training and certification - all on mobile. The solution is optimized for rural and low bandwidth areas.

Safejob, an NSDC partner and training expert, was able to develop and deploy training material in eight languages as well as an assessment to ensure that they can be certified to be aware of the Suraksha norms.

The initiative was successful in registering more than 5 lakh stores within a week of launch. Currently, over 7 lakh retailers have enrolled for this training and over 70K Kirana employees have completed the awareness training, the companies claimed.

Speaking about the initiative, Divya Jain, Founder, Safejob said, “We were extremely proud and grateful when the Department of Consumer Affairs, Govt. of India approached us with an opportunity to serve the country during these tough times. Within a week of ideation, we were able to build the technology required to onboard and train these store owners. And all of this was done while we were all safe and staying inside our homes.”

Arihant Jain and Ajeet Kushwaha, co-founders of Seekfy said in an official statement: “We have always believed that technology is a powerful tool that can create a massive impact in people’s lives at large. The Suraksha Store is a perfect example of the speed and scale at which we were able to use technology to solve a simple yet impactful problem that will contribute in flattening the curve for India..”

 

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