The role of the Indian corporate sector in disaster relief operations has been growing significantly, be it in collection and distribution of relief material or towards the contribution of reconstruction of social and community assets.
CII is the first Indian industry organization to constitute a Disaster Management Committee as early as May 2001. The CII Foundation (CIIF) was set up in 2011 to provide corporates and other donors a platform to participate in and create large scale, long term development impact.
To facilitate convergence of humanitarian aid and relief efforts for efficient and quick response to natural disasters in any part of the country, CII Foundation developed a Disaster Response Platform www.disasterresponse-ciifoundation.in in 2017-18. The online real time inventory platform maps corporate sector resources ranging from drinking water and food to emergency transportation and communication that can be supplied or donated by companies during disasters.
CII played a key role in disaster relief management after the devastating Kerala floods, and has been instrumental in disaster relief and rehabilitation initiatives covering the Odisha super-cyclone, the Bhuj earthquake, the Uttarakhand floods and landslides, and others. CII has also partnered with the Government and development organisations such as the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) for the effective execution of disaster risk reduction activities. The Public-Private-People (PPP) Partnership for Natural Disaster Risk Management is the result of various initiatives carried out by CII.
COVID-19 is a natural disaster requiring immense efforts from corporates with interventions and relief measures aimed at people and communities at the bottom of the pyramid and senior citizens impacted due to the lockdown. CII is in constant touch with various Government agencies and local authorities to assess the situation and initiate most urgent relief operations across all states.
To begin with, the relief measures will focus on making available requisite materials towards preventing, protecting and testing. There is a massive requirement of Testing Kits, Personal Protective Equipment (PPE), sanitisers, etc. for medical professionals and the community, and immediate need to provide basic provisions for most affected people due to loss of wages. CII’s ongoing interventions under COVID-19 include engaging with CII members, supporting government health systems, community initiatives and working with Yi, CII’s Young Indians platform.
CII made an appeal to industry members for support for relief and rehabilitation measures on 25 March 2020 and created a system to receive in-kind contributions in different geographies.
To assist with capacity building of healthcare workers and volunteers, initiatives will be rolled out in multiple districts where CII skilling initiatives are on-going. This will be done through capacity building of Master Trainers, cascading to larger segment of healthcare workers and volunteers for monitoring. In fact, CII along with Sector Skill Council on Healthcare is also developing a standard curriculum for training.
CII’s community initiatives include identified interventions for immediate relief requirements – protective, preventive materials for front line workers and community; providing basic provisions to daily wage earners and mapping public & private buildings to convert them to shelters for the homeless. Proposed activities among farm laborers and daily wage earners in Punjab, Haryana and Jammu & Kashmir include distribution of ration kits and distribution of hygiene kits as well as awareness campaign through Audio Van and IEC material.
Young Indians (Yi) is an integral part of CII, formed in 2002 as a PAN India platform for young Indians. CII along with Yi is building a pool of resources and volunteers for helping elders in society as people above 60 are most vulnerable. It is also workingto help delivery of food items to economically weaker sections with ration to be made available through the efforts of CII Foundation and to augment efforts of already stretched health workers.
Keeping in view of the magnitude the outbreak of the virus has caused, CII expects a long-term engagement in all the States with regards to relief and rehabilitation. This would require tremendous support and generosity from all.
Financial contributions can be made by by Cheque / Money transfer in favour of ‘CII Foundation’ as per the following bank details:
Organization Name: CII Foundation
Project: COVID -19 Relief and Rehab Initiative
Bank Name: HDFC Bank
Branch Name: Kasturba Gandhi Marg, New Delhi – 110001
Account No: 50100232980680
RTGS/NEFT IFS Code: HDFC0000003
For cash contributions, please drop an email at ceo-ciifoundation@cii.in with subject line “INR ___ contributed towards COVID-19 Relief and Rehab Initiative” with the donor’s name, mailing address and payment details for the purpose of issuing 80G.
To donate in kind, the following may be contacted:
K Jawaharlal, 9910475074 / jawahar.k@cii.in
Deepak Juneja, 9810145280 / deepak.juneja@cii.in
