Comments
Reliance Foundation, the philanthropic arm of the Mukesh Ambani-led Reliance Industries Ltd, has pledged to provide 3 crore meals to marginalised communities and frontline workers in the country.
The meals would be provided under ‘Mission Anna Seva’, which will be the largest meal distribution programme undertaken by a corporate foundation anywhere in the world, the foundation said in a statement.
The beneficiaries of this programme include daily wage earners, slum-dwellers, urban service providers, factory workers and residents of old-age homes and orphanages.
Reliance Foundation has already distributed more than 2 crore meals in 68 districts across 16 States and one Union Territory, it added.
“Covid-19 is an unprecedented pandemic for the world, India and humanity. As India enters an extended period of lockdown, our hearts go out to all those Indians who depend on daily wages for their next meal. They too are members of our parivar — our own Bharat Parivar,” Nita Ambani, Founder and Chairperson of Reliance Foundation, said.
Under the programme, Reliance Foundation will provide cooked meals, ready-to-eat food packets and dry ration kits to families, and bulk ration to community kitchens. It is also providing meals to frontline workers such as junior medical staff, police personnel and security forces.
Redeemable food tokens
At some locations, Reliance Foundation is also distributing food tokens that could be redeemed at Reliance Retail outlets such as Reliance Fresh, Reliance Smart Superstore, Reliance Smart Point and Sahakari Bhandar.
Reliance Retail employees are contributing to this programme by packing, preparing and supplying the provisions needed for the programme. Employee volunteers from across Reliance sites such as Mumbai, Silvasa, Vadodara, Patalganga, Hazira, Jhajjar, Shahdol, Jamnagar, Dahej, Barabanki, Nagothane, Gadimoga and Hoshiarpur have been distributing free meals to poor communities in their respective locations.
Staff members at certain Reliance petrol stations in West Bengal, Kerala and Odisha are distributing free meals to truck drivers who are transporting essential commodities.
Earlier, Reliance had set up a dedicated 100-bed centre at Seven Hills Hospital in Mumbai for Covid-19 patients.
READ THE STORY: Reliance sets up dedicated Covid-19 medical centre with BMC
Reliance Foundation had also started producing one lakh masks and hundred thousand personal protective equipment (PPE) daily for health workers and caregivers. Reliance is also providing free fuel to emergency vehicles, while Reliance Retail is providing essential supplies every day across over 200 cities.
Reliance Foundation had donated ₹535 crore to various relief funds, including the PM CARES fund.
Comments
COMMENT NOW
Comments
Comments have to be in English, and in full sentences. They cannot be abusive or personal. Please abide by our community guidelines for posting your comments.
We have migrated to a new commenting platform. If you are already a registered user of TheHindu Businessline and logged in, you may continue to engage with our articles. If you do not have an account please register and login to post comments. Users can access their older comments by logging into their accounts on Vuukle.