NE NEWS SERVICE
NEW DELHI, MARCH 28
GiveIndia, an online donation platform, has started a mission to support families impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic in India, which is likely to result in loss of livelihoods for a very large number of people, especially among the daily wage workers. Within three days of launching this mission, GiveIndia has raised over Rs 1.5 crores from over 6,000 donors, says the NGO statement.
About 80% of those employed in India are in the unorganised sector and will be deeply affected in the coming months. Even as the government is stepping up in several ways, including providing income support, to help such families in the coming months, families living on the margins will require additional support to tide over these difficult times. Towards this, GiveIndia has partnered with the most credible non-profits to help families in need and prevent the spread of the coronavirus in India.
Under the mission, GiveIndia has launched two initiatives to help the disadvantaged and support families – to provide a safety net for the economic toll and to provide protection against the virus. While one will help daily wagers put food on the plate, the second, #IndiaAgainstCoronaVirus will provide hygiene kits to underprivileged families across India who do not have access to soaps, sanitisers, and masks. This initiative also aims to support people at the frontline in hospitals as well.
Every donation will go a long way in stemming the spread of the virus and supporting vulnerable families to tide over COVID-19. In the three days since it launched the campaign, GiveIndia has raised over Rs 1.5 crores from over 6,000 donors.
GiveIndia has partnered and is working closely with trusted NGOs such as CRY, Helpage, Goonj, Bhumi, Oxfam, ActionAid, Team Everest, SPPD, Vidya Poshak, St Jude, Habitat for Humanity, and Sevalaya among other reputed not-for-profit organisations. GiveIndia’s corporate partners, including Omidyar Network India, McKinsey, AU Small Finance Bank, Meesho, Genpact, Flipkart, Myntra and Jardine Llyod Thompson among many others, have also initiated employee giving campaigns with GiveIndia. Most of the corporates will match the donations made by employees in response to the COVID-19 crisis.
Speaking about the initiative, Atul Satija, Chief Executive Officer, GiveIndia, said, “We have launched this campaign as an emergency response – to help provide a safety net to casual labour families. With this fund, we aim to directly support these families by providing a minimum wage in cash, hopefully with your support till the virus abates and they are in employment again.”
Satija urged people to come forward and donate generously. “The whole world is suffering, but those without any job security or savings are the most vulnerable. Please consider this as an appeal for help and we urge everyone to Give generously to those hit hardest by COVID-19.”
To donate, please visit https://indiafightscorona.giveindia.org/
GiveIndia has duly verified unemployed individuals through its NGO network and has committed to giving 100% of all funds raised directly to the families. All donations through this platform are exempted from tax under Sections 80G & 501(c)(3).
