As the lockdown in India has been extended till 3 May 2020 to prevent the spread of Coronavirus, the need for relief and rehabilitation has increased as millions find themselves stranded and unable to earn their daily living. Specially affected are migrant labour, dependents, and people from weak socio-economic backgrounds.
CII has undertaken various initiatives over the years related to disaster relief and management. As millions of Indians get impacted due to Coronavirus, CII, along with the CII Foundation, Young Indians (Yi) and associate associations SIAM and ACMA is undertaking extensive relief and rehabilitation operations.
As on April 13, 2020, CII is working across 27 states in India such as Jammu and Kashmir in the north, Gujarat in the west, Nagaland in the east and Tamil Nadu in the south, covering a wide expanse of the country. Targeting vulnerable sections of society, CII has so far reached out to more than 2.5 million beneficiaries.
Key initiatives taken include:
1.Distribution of hygiene material
33 lakh hygiene materials including 5 lakh masks, 6 lakh gloves, 8 thousand PPEs and 21.75 lakh sanitizers/soaps have been distributed among the vulnerable population, policemen and medical workers.
2.Provision of food
9 lakh cooked meals, and 4.25 lakh ration kits and 500MT of food grains have been provided to the needysuch as daily wage labourers, migrant workers, farmers, the elderly, nomadic tribes, children and women workers.
3.Community Kitchens
CII has supported numerous community kitchens in cities such as Delhi, Bhopal, Rajkot, Bhilai, Jamshedpur, Dhanbad, Patna, Cuttack, Kalinganagar, Ernakulam, Jaipur, Hyderabad, Noida, Guwahati, Asansol, Jamshedpur, Durg, Udaipur, Dehradun, Lucknow, Bareilly, Hubballi and Vizag.
4.Installation of Disinfection Tunnels
In places such as markets and bus stands, where typically large numbers of people gather, disinfection tunnels have been installed by CII and Young Indians (Yi) to minimise the chances of spread of the virus.
5.Awareness Drives
The CII Foundation has undertaken awareness drives and relief work in 115 villages in 6 districts in Punjab and Haryana, while the CII Foundation Woman Exemplar Network has created awareness and distributed ration kits to marginalised communities in UP, Rajasthan, West Bengal and Maharashtra.
6. Special Helpline for the disabled, single and widowed women: The CII Indian Women Network has launched a special helpline in Puducherry and helped over 200 individuals with their problems so far.
In addition to the above ongoing activities, CII is working in close collaboration with State Governments, government offices, hospitals and police departments to undertake health and welfare interventions, in states such as Delhi, West Bengal, Punjab, Telangana, Tamil Nadu, Himachal Pradesh, Karnataka, Chhattisgarh, Maharashtra, Gujarat, and states of North East India.
For more details on CII Covid-19 relief and rehabilitation, and to contribute to the CII Covid Relief Fund, visit https://www.ciicovid19update.in/.
A time of crisis is a time for everyone to rally together to emerge from the crisis. Corporate India is stepping up to the task, and as India’s leading industry body, CII is spearheading relief and rehabilitation measures to mitigate suffering and losses across the country.