After the coronavirus outbreak in India, the 21 days lockdown was implemented across the country. With this action of the government, the migrant workers and poor people in the cities have been suffering from lack of food and night shelter. The government has then set up shelter homes for these needy people.

Now, Google has partnered with the Indian Government to show the locations of these food and night shelters on Google Maps, Google Search and Google Assistant. This feature is currently live in more than 30 cities across India and will help migrant workers and affected people across these cities.

Google says that it is further working towards adding more locations. The feature is currently available in English and will shortly roll out in Hindi and other languages as well.

Working closely with @mygovindia, we are now surfacing locations of food shelters & night shelters on Google Maps, Search and Google Assistant, to help migrant workers & affected people across cities.

Please help this reach those who need it most.@PMOIndia @GoI_MeitY @rsprasad pic.twitter.com/g9LwYfikrW

— Google India (@GoogleIndia) April 6, 2020

How to Access These Shelters

1. Open Google Search App, Google Maps or launch Google Assistant.
2. Now, search “Food Shelter in <City Name>” or ask the same to the assistant.
3. It will show you the list of shelter homes along with their locations on Google Maps.

For easier access to this feature, Google is planning to add shortcuts that will appear below the search bar on the Google Maps app.

Commenting on the launch of this feature, Anal Ghosh, Sr. Program Manager, Google India, said,

“As the COVID-19 situation develops, we are making a concerted effort to build solutions that help people during these times of need. Highlighting the locations of food and night shelters on Google Maps is a step to make this information easily available to the users in need, and ensure they can avail the food and shelter services being provided by the government authorities.”