Anand Mahindra joins the ventilator-making club, says will create fund to help SMEs and self-salaried
The Chairman of the Mahindra Group will also give away his salary to the fund and is ready to offer its Mahindra Holidays resorts as temporary care facilities
More and more CEOs around the world are committing to help build ventilators and support the medical care departments, for there could be a potential shortage of ventilators in Indian hospitals as the Coronavirus pandemic grows.
The latest entrant to this list is Anand Mahindra, the popular billionaire-philanthropist and the Chairman of the Mahindra Group. While announcing that he is giving away his salary to create a COVID-19 fund, he took to Twitter to also announce a few things about how Mahindra Group intends to contribute to the cause.
The COVID-19 fund will be used to help SMEs and self-salaried citizens, who faced the worst wrath of the coronavirus outbreak..
Anand Mahindra said that it is is highly likely that India is already in its Stage 3 of transmission, after going by numerous reports from epidemiologists.
He said, "Cases could rise exponentially with millions of casualties, putting a huge strain on medical infrastructure. A lockdown over the next few weeks will help flatten the curve and moderate the peak pressure on medical care. However, we need to create scores of temporary hospitals, as we have a scarcity of ventilators."
To help ease the situation, the chairman said the Mahindra Group will immediately begin work on how its manufacturing facilities can make ventilators, and is ready to offer its Mahindra Holidays resorts as temporary care facilities. The project teams at Mahindra, he said, will stand ready to assist the Government and the Indian Army in erecting temporary care facilities.
The Mahindra Foundation will create a fund to assist the hardest hit in its value chain, both small businesses and the self employed. While encouraging his associates to voluntarily contribute to this fund, Mahindra stated that he will contribute 100 percent of his salary to it and will add more over the next few months.
"I urge all our various businesses to also set aside contributions for those who are the hardest hit in their ecosystems," he said.
The number of coronavirus cases in India has risen to 324 with new patients reported from various states. Meanwhile, Indians stayed at home on Sunday in solidarity with Prime Minister Narendra Modi's appeal for a 'Janata Curfew' to help check the spread of COVID-19.
Elon Musk, the founder of SpaceX, Tesla, and The Boring Company among other ventures, recently announced on Twitter that he would produce ventilators in case of a shortage amid the coronavirus outbreak. This comes after Italy's hospitals became overrun with critically ill coronavirus patients, leading to doctors choosing who gets to use them.
While many cities in the US have imposed a strict curfew, Musk is also aware that there might potentially be a shortage of ventilators for those suffering acutely from coronavirus.
In India, digital payment platform committed Rs 5 crore for Indian innovators developing medical solutions related to coronavirus.
Vijay Shekar Sharma, the Paytm founder tweeted to say, "We need more Indian innovators to start building such indigenous solutions for potential ventilator shortage and other COVID-19 cures. Paytm commits Rs 5 crore for such teams working on coronavirus-related medical solutions."
(Edited by Javed Gaihlot)