Preeyaj Safary In April, when 17-year-old Preeyaj Safary saw his grandparents undergoing a hassle in booking vaccination slots for themselves, he was determined to do something about it. A resident of Mumbai, Safary, who often spends his time on his computer programming, decided to bring his idea of making booking slots for inoculation simpler to fruition with the help of a bot.
“I was at my grandparents’ house in April when the immunisation drive accelerated. My grandparents, who are not very tech-savvy, had a tough time manoeuvring through the CoWin website and getting a slot booked for both of them. In fact, they sought help from their neighbours who are in their 30s. I thought that if my own grandparents are struggling to book a slot, many other elderlies might also be going through similar experiences,” he said.
As there was a shortage of vaccine doses and the drive for the 18+ began around the same time, it added to the exertion, amid individuals trying to keep a tab of inoculation availability. “Several elderlies do not require very heavy smartphones like we do. Many times, slots went away in a nick of time and to check availability elsewhere, there are only limited chances. In other words, one has to check again and again which can be taxing for them and the differently-abled,” he said.
After several trial and error, Safary developed a bot on UiPath which uses the Robotic Process Automation (RPA) feature to locate an opening that is accessible. “Since I had received my dose, I had the required time to work towards developing the bot. After several errors and defects in the codes, I was able to come up with the bot in two to three days,” he said.
While the CoWIN website has an auto bot on their website, there is a long form that the user needs to fill in before they can access slots with vaccine availability in their area. “The bot that I have developed just requires a one-time entry of information on an excel sheet, that is, the contact number, area pin code, age (45+ and 18+) and paid/free vaccine. One can also add a column for the desired hospital if they wish. Once that is done and we run the UiPath file, all one needs to do is login on CoWIN, enter the contact number and OTP and the prerequisites will already be pre-filled. Simply put, one does not need to enter their details again and again and instead, just have to press a few buttons,” said Safary.
Safary said that although his effort feels small, he wishes to make a big difference. “After I made the bot, a few of my relatives who stay in Mumbai gave it a try. My grandparents too said that the bot can be of help for many in the community who might not find technology easy. With the excel sheet alongside the UiPath file, one can not only use this for an individual but also for a group of people, like small companies or organisations. I also keep a track of the changes made on the CoWIN website so that I can alter my bot when required,” he said.
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The 12th grade science student from Kishinchand Chellaram College, who aims to become a developer, said the overall objective is to reduce human effort. “My father is an IT professional and hence, it was natural that I developed a keen interest towards computers and programming. I have undergone several mobile development, web development, artificial intelligence and machine learning courses to hone my skills over the time and it is just a small effort to put my skills to good use for society,” Safary said.
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