COVID19 has taken over all over the world and has been declared a pandemic. That being said, almost every other country is under lockdown and the respective governments are doing their best to control the spread as much as possible.
India has recently gone in a 21 day lockdown period. And as applaudable as the decision can be there is a certain section of the society that will require our attention more. People below the poverty line are facing a lot of trouble to adhere to the lockdown as they are unable to gather resources to survive even for a day.
In this regard, many companies have come forward and pledged to help the people by raising a relief fund.
Prime Minister’s Relief Fund
The PMRF is the central government’s distress relief fund. Individual citizens, businesses, and organizations can contribute to making a difference. You can make your donations through the BHIM/UPI app or log in to the PMRF website.
Many celebrities from Bollywood & sports fraternity have already made their donations through PMRF.
Zomato – Feeding India
Despite having faced a fallback on the business front, Zomato has come forward and launched the ‘Feeding India’ initiative that offers food to families of daily wage workers.
You can visit the Feeding India donation page and choose to support one family (Rs 500), three families (Rs 1,500), five families (Rs 2,500) or more. Each meal kit (for a family of five) contains a combination of wheat flour, rice, and two types of pulses that can be used to cook meals for the family for a week.
Zomato announced that it has also partnered with Grofers and multiple NGOs on the ground to help ensure the responsible distribution of these kits while adhering to social distancing guidelines. As per the officials, all proceeds will be used in procuring and distributing meal kits to families of daily wage earners across 26 cities.
Google Pay and Goonj/CMRF
On Google Pay, you have the option of contributing to the Chief Minister’s Relief Funds (CMRF) of Maharashtra, Karnataka, Kerala, Bihar, Odisha, Assam, and Meghalaya.
Whereas you can also donate for the cause through Goonj’s, a non-profit organization, RAHAT COVID-19 initiative to daily wagers who are out of jobs and are returning to their villages.
Paytm and Lifebuoy
Paytm has partnered with leading FMCG to brand Lifebuoy, and cricketer Yuvraj Singh’s foundation YouWeCan to launch India Fights Corona campaign.
The Paytm app now has a dedicated icon for individual contributions on its homepage. Donations start from Rs 50 and can go up to any amount of your choice. The unicorn has committed to using the amount for producing sanitizers, handwash, and soap bars, especially for the underprivileged sections of society.
PharmEasy and Razorpay
You can donate N95 masks to doctors, nurses, and hospital staff. Select the number of masks you wish to donate on the PharmEasy app or the Razorpay homepage. For every mask you donate, PharmEasy shall pledge one more, thus doubling the collections.
COVID-19 Crowdfunding
Crowdfunding platform Ketto.org has a dedicated page for COVID-19 fundraisers. To date, it has raised Rs 1.8 crore through multiple initiatives for daily wage earners, waste-pickers, and migrant laborers across Indian cities.
Former Team India captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni has made a contribution of Rs 1 lakh through Ketto to Pune’s Mukul Madhav Foundation, a public charitable trust.
You can donate through Paytm or UPI app or make direct bank transfers.
