Support pours in for PM-CARES Fund
As India braces up to battle the rapidly increasing number of Covid-19 cases, financial aid and free community services continued to flow from various corporates.
From offering office premises that can be converted into isolation wards to earmarking funds to be used for procuring kits, ventilators as well as personal protective equipment (masks, gloves, etc.) for health care workers, India Inc has put a united front to combat the unprecedented crisis facing the country.
India’s leading digital payments and financial services platform Paytm said it was seeking contribution for Prime Minister's Citizen Assistance and Relief in Emergency Situations Fund (PM
CARES) on the Paytm app. The company is aiming to contribute ~500 crore to the PM-CARES fund. For every contribution or any other payment made on Paytm using the wallet, UPI and Paytm Bank debit card, the company will contribute an extra up to ~10, it said.
Additionally, over the past few weeks, Paytm has started collecting contributions to buy personal hygiene products for people who might not have the means to buy it. Also, the company has created a ~5-crore fund for innovators who are developing medical instruments or medicines to combat the virus, it said in the statement.
Flipkart-owned Phonepe has launched a donation drive and said it aims to contribute up to ~100 crore to the Fund.
JSW Group too has ~100 crore to the PM-CARES Fund to support all relief efforts, the company said in a statement. Each employee of the JSW Group has committed a minimum of a single day’s salary as a donation to the Fund.
JSW Group Chairman Sajjan Jindal said the group was continuously evaluating the situation and was committed to assisting the government in all ways possible to deal with all Covid-related fallouts. “These immediate contributions are what we see is the need of the hour, and we have earmarked further monetary and nonmonetary contributions so as to allow us to dynamically respond to all societal requirements in the future,” said Jindal.
JSW is also offering staples and other essentials to communities around the Group facilities. Conversion of a number of facilities across JSW Group locations into isolation wards is also in the works to reduce the burden on community hospitals.
Adani Foundation has also committed ~100 crore to Fund, Group Chairman Gautam Adani wrote on Twitter. “The Adani Group will further contribute additional resources to support the government’s fellow citizens in these testing times,” he wrote.
Kotak Mahindra Bank has committed ~35 crore towards Covid-19 relief operations, it said in a statement on Sunday. Of this, the bank commits ~25 crore to PM-CARES Fund and ~10 crore to Maharashtra Chief Minister’s Relief Fund. Further, Uday Kotak, chairman and managing director of the bank, has personally committed ~25 crore to the PM-CARES Fund.