Eicher Group Foundation and Metso India join Plan India
Amidst the coronavirus (COVID-19) lock down and outcry from several poor and marginalized families, vulnerability girls and young women has come to the fore. Communities with scanty access to health and sanitation facilities for their girls in this time of crisis are facing the biggest hardships. In response to this, Plan India’s Project Suraksha aims to fight the COVID-19 crisis while working in close coordination with the Government, civil society organisations, corporates and donors to support weaker sections and communities in peril. In order to support Plan India’s cause by means of this project, Eicher Group Foundation and Metso India Pvt. Ltd have come forward to fulfil the organisation’s purpose and mission to provide gender sensitive public health and humanitarian assistance to the most vulnerable families so that the impact of the crises on children, girls and young women is minimized and mitigated.
Extending his gratitude towards the supporting corporates, Mohammed Asif, Executive Director, Plan India, said, “Plan India team is ever grateful for the support it is receiving from leading corporates, namely Metso and Eicher Motors, who have come forward to provide much needed humanitarian relief to some of the poorest and most vulnerable families and in particular the girl child. As a leading national NGO, working for social development and humanitarian causes, we are committed to promote awareness and sensitization in adolescent girls and young women on the ways to prevent the spread of Novel Coronavirus in India. Together, we are partnering the most vulnerable families and supporting their immediate needs of food and personal hygiene. Moving forward we will be working closely with the poor and vulnerable families to help restart education and learning for their children and promote skills and livelihoods in young women and men. While we are committed to our social development mandate, it is indeed encouraging to have socially committed corporates join hands with us to achieve the larger national development goals.”
Plan India’s humanitarian response aims to reach 2 lakh people on the ground with a focus on communicating public health information, distributing hygiene kits, dry ration kits and personal protective equipment (PPE) while ensuring that the needs and rights of girls and young women are addressed.
Eicher Group Foundation has donated to Plan India to provide dry ration and hygiene kits to daily wage workers, small vendors, pregnant and lactating mothers, orphans/abandoned children, primitive and nomadic tribes, families with disabled members, elderly headed household, female headed households, migrant laborer’s in Pune and Bhubaneshwar.
Mr. G Sekar, Director, Eicher Group Foundation, said, “We are committed to supporting the Government and various NGOs in the fight against COVID-19 pandemic. We are working on several fronts to provide relief and support measures across various parts of the country. With Plan India and their on-ground partners, we plan to support 1500 families each, in Pune and in Bhubaneshwar.
In Alwar, Rajasthan, Metso India Pvt. Ltd. is supporting the most vulnerable communities affected by COVID-19 by providing dry ration, hygiene kit and personal protective equipment to doctors and medical kits such as gloves, sanitizer, floor cleaner to the frontline workers (ANM, ASHA, AWW[1] & Lab Technician).
Commenting on the immediate action and commitment towards the crisis, Mr. Sanjar Sehgal, Senior Manager- HR and IR said, “We have been working globally with many not for profit organisations and here in India, we have joined hands with Plan India and hope to ensure that those in need have enough to eat and can protect their families during this lockdown due to COVID-19. This support will reach out to the daily wage earners, migrant labour and poor farmers meeting their day to day needs.” Metso aims to support more than 1560 most vulnerable and economically weaker families with dry ration kits and hygiene kit, 2395 frontline workers with medical and 131 doctors with PPE kit.
Plan India is also supporting the initiative of national agencies like Niti Aayog, National Disaster Management Authority and Ministry of Home Affairs to name a few. Simultaneously Plan India is engaging with local government agencies, civil society organisations, donors and healthcare experts to ensure that correct messages and immediate relief measures reach our beneficiaries to keep them healthy and protected during this pandemic.
Plan India believes that given the nature and scale of the crisis, it is of critical importance that governments, civil society organisations and corporates undertake strategic and collaborative actions spanning both, public health and humanitarian domains. Their focus must be on bolstering public health efforts to contain the COVID-19 disease; and minimising the disruptions and humanitarian fallout on poor people’s livelihoods, education of children, safety and protection of girls and young women and the healthcare of persons with HIV and other chronic illnesses.
