Cognizant commits $40 million to Chennai flood relief efforts

A fourth of the funding will go directly to the Chief Minister's Relief Fund and other organisations

IT major Cognizant on Tuesday announced it was committing $40 million (around Rs 260 crore) to help residents, employees and business partners in Chennai with relief and rehabilitation in the aftermath of the recent floods. This will be the first large scale commitment by a private player in the state, which witnessed its worst rains and subsequent flooding in almost a century.
Cognizant is one of Chennai’s largest employers with more than 60,000 employees across 11 facilities. The company said it will take a multi-pronged approach to support relief and longer-term rehabilitation measures in the city.
 
Up to $10 million (Rs 65 crore) is targeted to help the residents of Chennai through direct grants to the Tamil Nadu Chief Minister's Public Relief Fund, direct grants to NGOs, including AmeriCares India, and other charitable and relief organizations providing healthcare, housing and other support.

The remaining $30 million (around Rs 195 crore) will be used to assist with the immediate and longer-term recovery needs of its employees and business partners through direct grants and loans, dedicated healthcare teams to provide medical care, consultation and disease prevention to employees and business partners.

 
Cognizant also plans to sponsor and fund additional initiatives through the Cognizant Foundation, which spearheads the company’s corporate social responsibility initiatives in India, and Cognizant Outreach, the company’s employee-led, grassroots volunteering program.
 
“Corporate support must play a vital role in providing immediate relief and helping to rebuild Chennai,” Cognizant president Gordon Coburn said in a statement. “Chennai is home to tens of thousands of our employees and their families. We are committed to helping with the large challenge of rebuilding the city and addressing the health, safety and housing needs of the residents of Chennai. …. We encourage the larger Chennai business ecosystem to join us in the effort to quickly recover from this disaster.”