Corporates appeal to unite CSR efforts to protect vulnerable from COVID

A section of India Inc on Tuesday appealed all corporate social responsibility initiatives to unite and focus efforts towards protecting the vulnerable sections of the society from the COVID-19 pandemic.

IT services major Wipro's chairman Rishad Premji, Edelweiss Foundation's -- the CSR arm of financial services major -- Vidya Shah and Rohini Nilekani of Arghyam have come together and joined hands with global non-profit Oxfam in making the appeal.

Th appealed to CSR foundations, funding and philanthropic organisations to focus efforts in protecting the elderly, the sick, the physically challenged, the poor and informal sector, migrant workers, a statement said.

A slew of corporates have made announcements of giving and committing money to the newly-created PM-CARES Fund as the number of positive cases in India increased and the government appealed for voluntary contributions.

The four entities called on large donors to "pledge for providing more effective support to and strengthening of their civil society partners by introducing flexibilities and undertaking measures in their grant-making and monitoring mechanisms" in the immediate term.

The "flexibility" measures include making new grants as unrestricted as possible, so non-profit partners have maximum flexibility to respond to this crisis.

Oxfam's chief executive Amitabh Behar said this is precisely the kind of action needed from big names of Indian industry, philanthropies and foundations for the long-term battle against COVID-19 and its economic and social consequences.