Ambuja Cement, ACC give ₹3.3 cr to NGOs working on Covid relief

Ambuja Cements and ACC, both part of Swiss cement major LafargeHolcim group, have collectively contributed ₹3.3 crore to three NGOs to support daily-wagers, migrant labour, slum-dwellers and homeless stranded across the country on account of the lockdown.

Ambuja Cement and ACC are supporting Goonj, an NGO on the forefront of disaster relief with expertise in material management; and Praja Foundation and Mumbai Roti Bank, who are working with labourers and daily wage workers who have lost their livelihood on account of the country-wide lockdown to protect against the coronavirus. Together, these organisations are carrying out multi-pronged containment and relief efforts that require immediate attention across the country.

Neeraj Akhoury, MD & CEO, Ambuja Cements, said that India, like other countries across the world, is grappling with its worst public health crisis. In times like these, collaborative models are more effective in both containment of the disease and support for those whose livelihood and even survival is at risk. “We believe that our contributions to these NGOs who are delivering grass-root relief measures coupled with our own companies’ efforts on ground working with local communities will greatly accelerate the scale and impact we will have,” he said.

Both the companies, through their CSR arms Ambuja Cement Foundation and ACC Trust respectively, distributed thousands of bags of food and ration kits to migrant labour and the marginalised.

Sridhar Balakrishnan, MD & CEO, ACC, said the corporate sector must step up to augment the work of the government and public bodies.

Both companies are taking collective responsibility to ensure the daily sustenance of migrant labourers, daily-wagers and impacted communities, he said.