CSC, WhatsApp launch chatbot helpline for tele-consultation in hinterlands

The helpdesk on WhatsApp makes it easy for people to seek support from administration, consult doctors, access a wide range of Covid related resources

The Common Services Centre, a special purpose vehicle under the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology on Thursday launched a dedicated chatbot-based helpline on WhatsApp to provide a digitally inclusive tele-consultation solution for people including in rural and remotest parts of India.

The helpdesk on WhatsApp, called "CSC Health Services Helpdesk" makes it easy for people to seek support from administration, consult with doctors, access a wide range of Covid related resources and get their queries addressed.

The CSC Health Services Helpdesk on WhatsApp is free to use and will be available in Hindi and English. To access the helpdesk, WhatsApp users need to simply send ‘Hi’ to the number +917290055552 and select the options to get connected to a doctor.

The CSC WhatsApp Helpdesk has been developed as an important and easily accessible extension of CSC’s goal to deliver healthcare services through channels that are socially, financially and digitally inclusive.

The interactive WhatsApp helpdesk will guide users to an appropriate doctor based on their specific health requirements across the areas of general health as well as related to  Covid-19.

“We are deeply committed to ensuring that rural citizens get the best access to healthcare and infrastructural services. CSC’s tele-health consultation has played an important role in providing primary healthcare services at the grass-root level. We are confident that an extension of this on WhatsApp will be our next lever in ensuring that primary healthcare services are available to the remotest population in our country. This chatbot has been uniquely built as a customised solution which will be beneficial for providing common services to people in India.We are thankful to WhatsApp for their collaboration, determination and all round support to make this chatbot so easy and seamless to use for people of India,” said Dinesh Kumar Tyagi, CEO, CSC e-Governance Services India Limited.

The CSC Health Services Helpline has been developed by Infobip Technologies.  

Commenting on the launch, Shivnath Thukral, Public Policy Director, WhatsApp India, said “CSC’s Health Services Helpline on WhatsApp will be a first of its kind tele-consultation chatbot in India. We are optimistic that this chatbot will prove to be an easy, convenient and reliable source of primary health care needs for people in India. Through our partnership with CSC we will continue to find innovative ways of making healthcare and other services more digitally and socially inclusive.”