Amidst the second COVID 19 wave engulfing the nation, lives in rural India have been severely affected where medical facilities are either dysfunctional or unavailable. Given the grim situation, the contributions of the India’s corporate sector have been significant. Until May 3, India Inc. had collectively committed over INR 5806 Cr. for the fight against coronavirus pandemic. Amidst the humanitarian crisis, many corporate houses stepped in, pulling together their resources to support the government and the citizens. Some of the biggest names like Tata, Adani Godda, HCL Technologies, PayTM, Flipkart, Zomato, Amazon, Bharat Group, Vedanta, Asian Paints, TVS Motor, Godrej, Bajaj, Kotak Bank and Axis Bank, are doing their bit for the country.
In Godda, the Adani Group handed over 160 jumbo oxygen cylinders to the district administration recently. It previously provided another 90 cylinders to the administration, with an objective to ensure adequate arrangement of oxygen in the district.
Additionally, the Adani Godda Foundation also undertook the work of laying oxygen pipeline in different hospitals across the region. Many families in villages have been crippled due to lack of medical facilities and loss of livelihood.
Adani Godda Sardar Hospital laid down the oxygen pipeline work for 140 beds. It was aimed to provide immediate relief and the required medical assistance to the patients and vulnerable families in villages. The foundation has been proactively coming through to administer the required groundwork in other district hospitals of Thakurgangti, Boarijor and Mahagama as well. They have been providing ration & other materials for Covid patients from time to time.
With the increasing number of COVID-19 cases in the rural areas, the government released one ‘SOP on COVID-19 Containment & Management in Peri-urban, Rural and Tribal areas’ to stop the gradual spread of the disease. As per the SOP, robust surveillance should be undertaken by ASHA periodically for influenza like illness/ severe acute respiratory infections (ILI/SARI) with the assistance of the Village Health Sanitation & Nutrition Committee (VHSNC).
“Most deaths in the village have been caused because there was no oxygen available,” said the newly elected head of farming community, Sanjeev Kumar.
While the second wave of COVID-19 is bearing devastating consequences for smaller towns and villages, Rural India has seen entire families being wiped out, outlining the scale of the suffering.
Stepping into action, the Adani Godda sanitized twelve villages in Godda and also donated Rs 1 crore to the Jharkhand’s Chief Minister Relief Fund last year from a total contribution of over 100 Crores to the PM CARES Fund.
It is the poor and the daily wagers who face the starkest of adversities in such situations. Through its community kitchen & canteens, the Adani Godda Foundation has been feeding this section in Godda (Jharkhand) among other regions as well. More than two 20,000 rural people and labourers were given meals every day when the pandemic first hit the nation. These constitute some of the measures undertaken by this leading conglomerate to ensure that the rural population of India is protected and well-fed.
Working on similar lines, Tata Group imported twenty-four cryogenic containers for transporting liquid oxygen to tackle the severe oxygen shortage in India.
PayTM Foundation also called out for fundraising of Rs 10 Cr. from its users to source oxygen concentrators, urging their users to donate as much as they can and the company promised to match the same amount with each contribution. After helping with the transportation of medical equipment & PPE kits, Vistara announced that it will fly nurses, doctors and other frontline healthcare workers for free across the country.
Utilizing their commendable logistic intelligence and resources, corporates like Tata, Amazon and Adani have procured key medical requirements and carried out fundraising campaigns.
Several companies have collaborated with GiveIndia Foundation and other NGOs for fundraising and provide Covid relief care in rural communities. To enable a rapid response to the pandemic needs of rural India, more than sixty civil society organizations (CSOs) came together to form an alliance – the Rapid Rural Community Response to COVID-19 (RCRC).
Initiatives like the ones undertaken by Adani Godda, Jharkhand and other leading conglomerates across the nation, have successfully provided sufficient relief measures to millions of pandemic-hit households.
