Tech firms continue Covid relief works as cases subside

New Delhi, June 7 : Cloud software firm Salesforce on Monday announced $1.1 million donation to United Way of Hyderabad, Concern India Foundation, Rise Against Hunger India and Youth for Seva, to support the Covid response across India.

These organisations are focused on procuring medical equipment and supplies, raising vaccine awareness, building community isolation centers and providing food security to the most vulnerable sections of the society.

Salesforce has also partnered with HSBC and the Khosla family to deliver medical supplies to different cities across the country.In total, 6000+ oxygen concentrators and 10,000 pulse oximeters will be delivered to the critical locations through partnerships with the Red Cross and GiveIndia.

Oxygen concentrators will also be made available to all the employees of Salesforce in India and outside.Through Salesforces Pledge 1 per cent campaign, its members and a global coalition of 43 companies have collectively contributed $28 million to support the relief efforts focused on medical supplies, vaccine awareness and food security.

Salesforce employees in India and around the world have also joined forces to start a 24x7 volunteer helpline that provides employees and their families in India the latest crowdsourced information on hospital bed availability and how to access resources.The information provided include Covid testing, doctor consultations, quarantine facilities, hospitalisation, medicine availability, and more, the company said.

Meanwhile, edtech company BYJUS has received $1 million in funding from the Breakthrough Global Foundation and DST Global to support the education of the kids affected due to Covid-19 in India.BYJUS will utilise the funds under its social impact initiative Education for All to support children who have lost their families due to Covid-19.

The initiative was launched by BYJUS in September 2020.It aims to democratise education by ensuring that children across all economic backgrounds get equal access to quality learning opportunities.

This initiative also aims at bridging the educational and digital divide by making quality learning accessible to the children in need.The programme has created a positive impact and reached over 5 lakh students in the last eight months across the country.

In addition, ophthalmic optics company Essilor has initiated a 24X7 helpline to support Covid infected employees and their family members to get timely help, including online medical consultation.The company has also ensured that at each major location, the oxygen cylinders used in the manufacturing process are made available to the employees for emergency use.A good number of oxygen concentrators were procured and distributed at all major locations for this purpose.Safety kits in terms of masks, gloves and sanitisers have been sent to each employees home to ensure that they are well prepared when they step out after the lockdowns are lifted.

Other initiatives include vaccination for all employees and their family members, tie-ups with pathological labs for Covid test, employee well-being programmes etc.