Panchshil Realty launches three-pronged CSR initiative to mitigate impact of COVID-19

Panchshil Foundation, the CSR arm of Panchshil Realty, one of India's leading real estate developers, today announced that it has embarked on a multi-pronged initiative to mitigate the impact of COVID-19 on daily wage earners in the Pune region.

As a first step, the Foundation is providing food hampers containing basic essential rations like rice, dal, cooking oil and eggs to daily wage earners who are left with no source of income after all economic activity has halted as a result of the spread of the novel coronavirus.

In the last 12 days, the Foundation has provided over 12,000 food hampers across various areas in Pune in coordination with the office of the Collector of Pune and elected representatives like corporators.

The target is to continue to distribute 8000 hampers per week for the next six weeks. These food hampers are being coordinated and put together by teams at The Ritz-Carlton, Pune, JW Marriott Pune, Courtyard by Marriott, Hinjewadi, Pune and the Marriott Suites, Pune, which are all of part of the hospitality portfolio of Panchshil Realty.

As a second step, and with a view to take this initiative to the next level, the Panchshil Foundation has partnered with the Pune-based 5th Battalion of the elite National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) to raise awareness about COVID-19 and the precautions to be taken by vulnerable populations at the community level.

This joint initiative kicked-off on April 8, 2020 and a team of seven experts from NDRF carried out a special community education drive at two labour camps in Wagholi, Pune and shared tips on maintaining hand hygiene and other steps to take to stay safe. The NDRF team also assisted in distribution of food hampers during this drive. This joint initiative will continue going forward too.

The NDRF is an elite, specialized and dedicated force constituted exclusively for the purpose of providing specialist and expert response to natural and man-made disasters, including chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear disasters.

The third leg of the CSR initiative will see Panchshil Foundation providing 10,000 Personal Protection Equipment (PPE) kits over the next few weeks to medical personnel handling COVID-19 cases in hospitals in Pune.

"Hundreds of thousands of daily wage earners have been left with absolutely no source of income and are struggling with even basic needs like food. To offer some immediate relief, the Panchshil Foundation has begun distributing food hampers amongst the impacted communities. Similarly, medical personnel treating COVID-19 patients need more PPE kits, and the Foundation will start providing them with these kits soon", said Atul Chordia, Chairman, Panchshil Realty.

"I would like to extend my gratitude and appreciation to the NDRF's 5th Battalion, Pune for joining hands with us to educate vulnerable populations on how to stay safe. I also want to acknowledge the support and contributions received from our corporate occupiers, associates and individual clients too", he added.

"At a critical juncture like this where raising awareness about how to stay safe from the novel coronavirus is of vital importance, ground-level outreach efforts like this give our expert trainers a chance to enhance the knowledge of impacted communities on basic hygiene precautions. The pandemic has to be addressed at multiple levels and timely and widespread community education is a key factor in slowing down the spread of this dreaded virus", shared Sachidanand Gawade, Second-In-Command at the Pune-based 5th Battalion of the NDRF.

The Panchshil Foundation aims to foster a strong sense of community, belonging and ownership. The core belief is that better communities are built when people lead better lives.

The Foundation's sphere of activities includes initiatives in the fields of education, health, art & culture, sports, infrastructure, safety & security and allied social initiatives.

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