Virat Kohli, wife Anushka donate Rs 2 crore in COVID-19 fight

PTI, May 7, 2021, 12:03 PM IST

New Delhi: India captain Virat Kohli and his actor wife Anushka Sharma have donated Rs 2 crore to a fund-raising project, which will raise a total of Rs 7 crore to support the country’s fight against the COVID-19 pandemic.

The two are raising money through the crowd-funding platform Ketto.

“…Virat Kohli and Bollywood superstar Anushka Sharma are aiming to raise Rs. 7 crores for COVID relief in India,” a press release from the celebrity couple stated.

“They are kickstarting a fundraising campaign #InThisTogether on the crowd-funding platform Ketto and are putting Rs. 2 crore for this initiative.”

The campaign will run for seven days on Ketto and the proceeds will be directed to ACT Grants, the implementation partner which will work towards providing oxygen, medical manpower, vaccination awareness and telemedicine facilities all through the pandemic and the amount.

“We are going through an unprecedented time in the history of our country and our nation needs all of us to unite and save as many people as possible. Anushka and I have been shocked to see the human suffering since last year,” Kohli said.

Kohli said that he and his wife had tried to help as many people as possible in their fight against the virus.

“We have been working towards helping as many people as possible all through the pandemic and now, India wants our support more than ever,” he said in a statement that was also shared on his social media handle.

“We are starting this fund-raiser with the confidence that we will be able to raise substantial funds to aid those in dire need. We are confident that people will come forward to support fellow countrymen in crisis. We are in this together and we shall overcome this.”

Anushka said it has been painful to watch the suffering of people as the country’s health-care system struggled to cope with the case load.

“Virat and I have been hugely pained looking at the inexplicable suffering that people are going through and we hope that this fund will aid in our fight against the virus that we are all helplessly witnessing,” she said.

Gayatri Yadav, spokesperson ACT Grants said, “Having strong voices like Anushka and Virat help drive fundraising efforts will go a long way towards helping us realise this goal. On behalf of India”s startup ecosystem, ACT Grants is truly grateful to have them join this mission.”