Covid-19: How Companies are utilizing their resources and expertise to help tackle the pandemic

Team Udayavani, Apr 16, 2020, 2:41 PM IST

As the coronavirus pandemic has spread globally, dozens of companies are stepping up to help protect and support people in need of assistance and flatten the curve.

Amid shortages of protective equipment and other essentials government is struggling to provide tests and supplies to hospitals and food to the needy, companies are doing what they can to help.

Infosys

Infosys Foundation gave Rs 100 crore to help the country contain the Covid-19 virus outbreak.

The contribution will primarily be utilized to expand hospital capacity for treatment and enable hospital stays for Covid-19 patients, provide ventilators, testing kits, and Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) like masks, and other protective gear for frontline healthcare workers and ensure better access to food and nutrition for the poor.

The foundation is also distributing food kits to the people which contains rice (5 kg), tur dal (1 kg), oil (0.5 litre), sambar and rasam powder, and vegetables which have a long shelf-life, such as potatoes and pumpkins.

Also, Infosys founder NR Narayana Murthy and his wife Sudha Murty have offered Rs 10 crore from their personal funds towards Akshaya Patra Foundation in order to serve food and distribute essential groceries to the migrant labourers and daily wage earners.

Ratan Tata

Chairman Ratan N Tata has donated massive Rs 500 crore to fight the coronavirus pandemic raging around the world. Tata said the current situation in India and across the world is of grave concern and needs immediate action.

The amount would be used for personal protective equipment for the medical personnel on the frontline, respiratory systems for treating increasing cases, testing kits to increase per capita testing, setting up modular treatment facilities for infected patients, and knowledge management and training of health workers.

Also, Taj Group of Hotels sent free meals to patients, doctors, nurses and other healthcare providers at Mumbai’s government hospitals and now the hotel will accommodate medical professionals for free.

Diageo

Diageo India has pledged to produce around 3,00,000 litres of bulk hand sanitiser across 15 of its manufacturing units in the country.

It also plans to donate 5,00,000 litres of Extra Neutral Alcohol to the sanitiser manufacturing industry to enable the production of more than two million units of 250 ML bottle sanitisers.

It is also planning to support the hospitality sector with Rs 3 crore as health insurance cover for bartenders. Apart from that, it also plans to donate 1,50,000 masks to five state public departments.

Azim Premji

Azim Premji committed Rs. 1000 crore through his philanthropic arm of the Azim Premji Foundation. The company said that the foundation’s 1,600 employees will work together with the government and healthcare workers.

Also, Wipro Limited has committed another Rs.100 crore and engineering services company Wipro Enterprises Limited has donated Rs 25 crore.

Mukesh Ambani- Reliance Jio

Mukesh Ambani’s Reliance Industries Limited (RIL) has also extended support to the people and government.

HN Reliance Foundation Hospital in collaboration with the BMC has set up a dedicated 100-bedded centre at Seven Hills Hospital in Mumbai, Maharashtra.

Also, Mukesh Ambani has contributed Rs. 500 crore to the prime minister’s fund and Rs. 5 crores for the relief fund of the chief minister of Maharashtra.

Reliance Foundation will provide free meals to people across various cities in partnership with NGOs and is enhancing production capacities to produce 1,00,000 face masks per day along with many other protective equipment to help health workers.

It has also announced free fuel for all emergency service vehicles in the country.

Maruti Suzuki

Maruti Suzuki is involved in the distribution of ration items to villages in Manesar and the in-house canteen at its plant is now being used to prepare food that is distributed to temporary workmen and student trainees staying in nearby areas.

Also, 7,000 food packets are being served for lunch as well as dinner in Gurugram and Manesar.

The company is also supplying 500 kits of dry ration each day which consists of rice, wheat, cooking oil, soap, sugar and other essential items.

The company also partnered with AgVa healthcare which is an approved manufacturer of ventilators, to help manufacture the equipment.

Hyundai

Hyundai contributed to PM CARES Fund and Tamil Nadu Chief Minister’s Public Relied Fund. It will also provide advanced Covid-19 diagnostic kits imported from South Korea.

Hyundai will join hands with local manufacturer to enhance the production of ventilators to meet growing demand in Tamil Nadu and other states.

TVS

The company pledged Rs 25 crore to the prime minister’s fund. Its corporate social responsibility arm pledged Rs.5 crore to the Tamil Nadu chief minister’s relief fund.

The company is also manufacturing and supplying one million protective face masks across the southern state of Tamil Nadu.

Ola

Ola announced a Rs. 20 crore for its drivers’ fund called “Drive the Driver” Fund. Founder Bhavish Aggarwal has contributed his annual salary to this fund. Ola has also offered 500 cabs to the Karnataka government for emergency transportation.

Kotak Mahindra Bank

Kotak Mahindra Bank chairman Uday Kotak has made a personal donation of Rs. 25 crores to the prime minister’s fund and the bank has pledged 35 crores of which Rs. 25 crores will go towards the prime minister’s fund and Rs. 10 crores will go towards the Maharashtra chief minister’s relief fund. The money will support the preventive, curative, rescue, relief and rehab operation

Mahindra 

Anand Mahindra, the chairman of the group, announced that Mahindra Holidays resorts will be offered to government as temporary care facilities and the firm has started working on making ventilators for Covid-19 patients.

The company chairman Anand Mahindra will also contribute 100 per cent of his salary and gradually increase collections in the fund to assist small-scale businesses.

Other companies like Godrej Group, Hindustan Unilever and Patanjali are reducing prices of soaps and hygiene products and are ramping up production of such items to fulfil demand.

Even small companies are offering their help in production masks and sanitizers and a few are also providing meals and food kits to the needy.

Also, Global leading companies like Google, Amazon, Microsoft and Uber are offering help in order to fight the pandemic.

Microsoft

Microsoft announced that they will keep paying the hourly workers who support their campus.

Google

Google established a COVID-19 fund that enables all temporary staff and vendors, globally, to take paid sick leave if they have potential symptoms of Covid-19, or can’t come into work because they are quarantined.

Uber

Uber announced they will provide 14 days of sick pay for drivers or delivery workers technically considered independent contractors who have not previously qualified for paid leave or benefits.

Amazon

Amazon announced that it will offer unlimited paid sick leave over the next month, but only for those who test positive for Covid-19 and is also hiring 100,000 more workers and giving raises to current staff to deal with coronavirus demands.