NE BUSINESS BUREAU
MUMBAI, APRIL 24
Essar Foundation, the CSR arm of Essar Group, on Friday announced that it it has decided to increase its ongoing commitment of providing 1.25 million meals to 2 million meals to the poor and needy affected by the Covid-19 outbreak in India, a spokesman said.
The Foundation has already provided almost 8 lakh meals to the vulnerable sections of the society, including the homeless, daily wage earners, transgender, and women with a background of domestic violence.
“Of this, 20,000 meals per day is earmarked for the Maharashtra CM’s Relief Fund,” the group said in a statement.
Apart from the provision for daily meals, Essar Foundation has also donated 150,000 masks (N95 & 3Ply) and sanitisers to hospitals, police stations, and BMC workers and 5,000 PPE (Personal Protective Equipment) kits to hospitals and police stations.
“The relief material is being distributed across Maharashtra, the state most acutely affected by the pandemic, and in other states like Gujarat, West Bengal, and Tamil Nadu,” the statement said.
“In South Mumbai, which has been declared as a Covid-19 hotspot, the foundation has been providing essential medical supplies to several government and private hospitals, as well as police stations,” it added.
“As one of India’s leading corporates, we feel it is incumbent on us to step up our efforts. The extended lockdown will have a profound impact on people from the weaker sections of our society. They need all our support to survive this unprecedented calamity. We are fortunate that we can act promptly, in collaboration with the state machinery, because of our association with the Government of Maharashtra Corona Control CSR Group. The Essar Covid-19 Relief Fund will continue to support marginalised and vulnerable groups of people pan-India,” said Kaustubh Sonalkar, CEO-Essar Foundation, and Group President-Corporate HR.
