As a country, perhaps we have been dealing with one of the most difficult times in the face of the Corona pandemic. People from different walks of life have been contributing as much as they can to fight the situation for the collective well-being of the country.
Amidst such a situation, the expectations are even greater from the entrepreneurs of the country as they may be among the richest and are able to afford the expenses of donations required in the fight against Coronavirus.
These entrepreneurs are committed to fighting against the pandemic.
The Action Covid Team (ACT)
A group of Indian entrepreneurs including UrbanClap’s Abhirai Bhal, Mukesh Bansal of Curefit and Myntra, Kunal Shah of Cred (previously FreeCharge), Rebel Foods’ Jaydeep Barman, Girish Mathrubootham of Freshworks, and Moglix’s Rahul Garg, top fund managers from Sequoia Capital, Accel and Lightspeed Venture Partners has pitched in to formulate the Action Covid Team (ACT) Grants, a conjoined fundraising initiative to fight the Corona pandemic in the country.
The Indian arm of the international NGO, United Way Worldwide, is in charge of the management and distribution of the grant. Nachiket Mor, the Indian head of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation has been designated as the head of the grant’s leadership team. The grant aims to support the ventures innovating on the field of Covid-19 scale testing, mental health support, domestic disease management, procurement of medical equipment including safety gears among others.
Gurugram Covid-19 Volunteers Group and Medor Hospital
In an exclusive collaboration between corporate giants and differing business groups, on 11 May a 150-bed non-profit hospital named Medor has been set up in Gurugram only to treat the Covid-19 patients. After the ESIC government hospital, Medor is the second of its kind providing care solely for the infected patients in the city.
The hospital currently staffs approximately 50 doctors, 250 nurses, 25 critical care units, and provides free treatment for the BPL cardholders. This collaboration is a part of the umbrella initiative ‘Gurugram Covid-19 Volunteers Group’ that has drawn entrepreneurs from at least 20 organizations which include MakeMyTrip, SoftBank, Fortis Healthcare, Medanta, DLF, Ernst & Young India among others.
Bhavish Aggarwal and the Ola Group
Bhavish Aggarwal, the CEO, and co-founder of Ola Group donated Rs.1 Crore to the Punjab Chief Minister’s Relief Fund. While 50 percent of the total contribution comes directly from the Ola Group, Aggarwal donated the rest of it from his personal account. As he hails from Ludhiana his contribution to the cause stands even more significant. The contribution is aimed at boosting the government’s relief efforts amid the pandemic scare.
Ratan Tata and the Tata Sons
Calling the Covid-19 crisis as ‘one of the toughest challenges’ Ratan Tata expressed his commitment to contribute Rs.500 crore through one of his tweets. The fund is pledged for procuring safety gear for health workers, ventilation facilities and adequate testing tools to do more per-capita testing as well as for the training of the frontline workers in the combat against COVID-19.
Followed by Ratan Tata’s statement, the Chairman of Tata Sons, Mr. N. Chandrasekharan has also promised further Rs 1,000 crore in support of the cause. He expressed in his statement: “We will work together with the Tata Trusts and our Chairman Emeritus Mr. Tata and would be fully supporting their initiatives, and work in a collaborative manner to bring the full expertise of the group.”
The Wipro Group and Azim Premji Foundation
The Wipro Group and Azim Premji Foundation have committed Rs 1,125 crore for enabling the medical fraternity and frontline workers in the fight against Coronavirus. Out of the total amount Wipro, Wipro Enterprises, and Azim Premji Foundation have committed Rs.100 crore, Rs.25 crore, and Rs.1000 crore respectively. The company has also ensured ‘integrated action’ for comprehensively responding to the containment of the pandemic.
Mukesh Ambani and the Reliance Industries Limited
Alongside making lumpsum donations to PM CARES and other state government relief funds, Mukesh Ambani led Reliance Industries Limited has set up a 100-bed-center in Mumbai’s Seven Hills Hospital in collaboration with BMC (Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation). Reliance Foundation is also working towards providing free meals to destitute in association with other NGOs. RIL has also increased its production capacity for manufacturing 100,000 face-masks along with other personal safety gear per day for the health workers of the country.
Anand Mahindra and the Mahindra Group
The Mahindra Group on March 22 has offered its hospitality wing for enhancing medical care facilities as well as for creating facilities to manufacture ventilators. Besides Anand Mahindra, the Chairman of the Group has dedicated cent percent of his salary for fighting against coronavirus. He states, “We will encourage associates to voluntarily contribute this fund. I will contribute 100% of my salary to it and will add more over the next few months. I will urge all our various businesses to also set aside contributions for those who are the hardest hit in their ecosystem“.
He also offered the group-owned resorts to be rehabilitated into provisional hospitals, devoted to coronavirus patients.
Larsen & Toubro
Engineering and construction company Larsen & Toubro alongside contributing Rs.150 crore to the PM CARES fund has also promised Rs.500 crore per month for the sustenance of around 160,000 contractual workers. They not only plan to continue paying their wages but also facilitate them with food and other basic essentials.
TikTok, the Social Media Platform
TikTok, the hugely popular social media platform among Indians, vowed Rs.100 crore by saying- “In the fight against the spread of COVID-19, we are extending support by donating Rs.100 Crore towards 400,000 hazmat medical protective suits and 200,000 masks to doctors and supporting medical staff.”
Shah Rukh Khan, KKR and Meer Foundation
The Bollywood King Shah Rukh Khan, also a successful entrepreneur of the country has been contributing through his ventures. His IPL team KKR (Kolkata Knight Riders) and Meer Foundation have donated 50,000 individual shielding apparatuses for the frontline workers to the governments of Maharashtra and West Bengal.
Meer foundation in collaboration with Ek Saath – The Earth Foundation aims to provide food to over 5,500 families and establish a community kitchen for preparing 2,000 cooked meals for households and hospitals in need. Meer Foundation along with the Roti Foundation also aims at providing 10,000 people with 3 lakh meal kits per day for at least a month. Even for about 2,500 daily wage workers in Delhi, Meer Foundation is to contribute basic essential and groceries.
Apart from these, the ITC has announced a fund of Rs.150 crore for rural healthcare and the needy. The JSW Group, Bajaj Group, Infosys, PhonePe, PayTM, Torrent Group, Hero Cycles, HDFC Group and Adani Foundation have also guaranteed Rs.100 crore each towards the PM CARES fund, facilitating Corona care for the entire country.
When the entire country is dealing with the pandemic, thanks to the entrepreneurs for pulling the strings at the right time. If the capitalist enterprises go hand in gloves with people and the state without worrying about the losses that they may have incurred, what shall we do to do the same within our limited capacities?