Coronavirus outbreak in India has already taken dozen-plus lives while infecting 700 plus citizens. Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced nationwide lockdown to stop the spread any further transmission of the deadly virus. Indian corporates are doing their bit by aligning their efforts with the Govt. agencies and institutions to reduce the crisis. TVS Motor Company, manufacturer of two-wheelers and three-wheelers and die-caster Sundaram-Clayton Ltd. (SCL) have announced spending of Rs 30 crore to support the nationwide efforts to curb the spread of COVID-19.
‘’This is an unprecedented crisis that requires all of us to cooperate and support each other as a nation,’’ said Venu Srinivasan, Chairman, TVS Motor Company. ‘’Our priority is to help the government efforts to contain and mitigate the effects of this pandemic. We will continue to do what we can for the community and people, as we have done in our 100-year history’’, added Srinivasan.
The funding will come through Srinivasan Services Trust (SST), the social arm of TVS Motor Company and Sundaram-Clayton Ltd. The measures will range from manufacturing and supplying supportive equipment such as masks, to providing cooked meals to the frontline team- healthcare workers to police officers. The first phase of the program is underway and SST has supplied 10 tractors fitted with disinfectant spray with the resource allocation of 30 individuals to the Hosur Municipal Corporation in Tamil Nadu, and municipalities in Krishnagiri and Mysuru. The streets and villages in and around these towns are currently being sprayed with disinfectant as an ongoing process. SST will also be manufacturing and distributing 1 million face masks to resources providing essential services from healthcare to food supplies.
Chennai based automaker is an association with SCL are using canteen kitchens in Hosur, Padi (Chennai) and Mysuru to make cooked food. The cooked food is then distributed to police, healthcare workers and essential services workers in and around Hosur, Chennai and Mysuru. In Baddi, Himachal Pradesh, the company is distributing daily, dry ration kits to daily wage workers who are currently stuck in their homes due to lockdown villagers who need food supplies.
They are also exploring collaborations with 3D printing companies to develop ventilators to support hospitals which lack the necessary life support systems to cope with patient care for COVID-19 victims. TVS Motor Company and Sundaram-Clayton Ltd. have shut all offices and manufacturing facilities complying with the govt, guidelines.