Second Covid-19 wave: India Inc steps in as govt falters on health care

Amid a massive surge in Covid patients, companies are coming forward with several innovative initiatives to help people

With India reporting a massive surge in Covid patients, companies are coming forward with several innovative initiatives to help the people, who are unable to get hospital beds, oxygen, ventilators and vaccines.
 
On Friday, the Adani Foundation announced that its Adani Vidya Mandir School campus in Ahmedabad will be converted into a supportive care facility for Covid patients.
 
This facility aims to lighten the load on the city’s government and private health infrastructure and will take care of those who are isolated from their families, it said.
 

“The government and health care institutions are pooling their resources to contain this fast-spreading pandemic. We must support them in every possible way we can,” Adani Foundation said.

 
“We expect to leverage our group’s execution experience in rapidly putting up the infrastructure at Adani Vidya Mandir. We will convert our school’s halls of learning into halls of life – from vidya-daan to jeevan-daan,” the foundation said. 
 
In Kolkata, ITC also announced that it is extending financial support to set up a 200-bed Covid care facility in the city in the wake of rising Covid cases. The hospital will be set up and managed by Medica Superspecialty Hospitals and will be a temporary facility for the treatment of Covid-19 patients. The West Bengal government has permitted the use of Kishore Bharati Stadium for the facility. 

 
In a unique initiative, Shriram Housing Finance decided to provide vaccination free of cost to all its customers.
 
“While we had earlier announced reimbursement of costs of vaccination for our employees, we have now extended it to our customers as well. Customers in the affordable housing space are not very well off. For them, even a small sum to be incurred in vaccination through private players can become a big deterrent. This, in turn, can derail the vaccination drive,” Ravi Subramanian, managing director (MD) & chief executive officer (CEO), Shriram Housing Finance, said.
 
Hitachi ABB Power Grid said it is mobilising its resources across India to help its people in need of beds or oxygen.

 
“We are setting up teams of doctors and paramedics, arranging PPEs for our frontline workers, facilitating mass-testing and vaccination of our employees and increasing the frequency of awareness sessions to contain the spread of the virus. Our goal is to be there for our people whenever they need us,” said N Venu, CEO and MD, Hitachi ABB Power Grids in India.
 
Ride-hailing firm Uber announced a ~18.5 crore initiative to get 150,000 drivers on its platform vaccinated over the next six months.
 
On Wednesday, Reliance Foundation had announced setting up 1,000-bed Covid care facilities with oxygen supply in Jamnagar for free.

 
The foundation also announced that a 400-bed Covid care facility will be set up at Government Dental College & Hospital in Jamnagar within a week and another 600-bed Covid care facility will be made operational at another location in town within the next two weeks.
 
A similar initiative is expected from Essar Foundation in Jamnagar on Saturday.
 

ACTION PLAN

• Over 50% companies to pay for vaccines for their employees, dependents
• 80% of employers will most likely have the vaccination administered at a third-party clinic or hospital
• 97% plan to subsidise the cost for their employees; 78% for their spouse/ partner; and 59% for parents
• 40% of the surveyed companies plan to offer incentives to employees to get vaccinated

 
With inputs from Ishita Ayan Dutt and Peerzada Abrar