Omidyar announces Rs 26 Cr grant for two NGOs towards COVID relief
The firm will be extending a Rs 13 crore grant each to Give Foundation, a platform dedicated to donations, and United Way Bengaluru for their efforts on COVID relief, an official statement said.
Impact investing firm Omidyar Network India on Tuesday announced a Rs 26 crore grant for COVID relief work to be equally shared between two non-government organisations (NGOs).
The firm will be extending a Rs 13 crore grant each to Give Foundation, a platform dedicated to donations, and United Way Bengaluru for their efforts on COVID relief, an official statement said.
Give Foundation will utilise the funds for strengthening the capacity of institutions, healthcare staff, volunteers, and caregivers, focus on underserved rural areas and encourage retail donors to contribute by matching their funding, it added.
Roopa Kudva, Managing Director
United Way will purchase and distribute oxygen concentrators across India, set up pressure swing adsorption (PSA) plants to help with demand for oxygen, help decongest hospitals through telemedicine solutions and help in vaccination using the funds, it said.
Omidyar managing director Roopa Kudva said both the organisations have shown great agility in galvanising significant financial resources and high-quality talent as well as strong execution capabilities to deploy funds effectively at a scale required to battle the pandemic.
By partnering with them, we hope to help address the urgent and critical issues facing those most vulnerable in the second wave of the pandemic, she added.
Apart from this, the statement said the firm had in March 2020 launched a Rapid Response Funding Initiative (RRFI), which provided funding of Rs 10.75 crore to 67 organisations, and also provided Rs 13.6 crore in grants to 11 grantees.
The platform said the 'solidarity grant' is being given to support the non-profit sector as it faces challenges due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Bodies that have received the grant from Omidyar include Association for Democratic Reforms, Data Security Council of India, the eGovernments Foundation, Pratham, Foundation for Ecological Security, and Janaagraha, as per an official statement.
(Disclaimer: Additional background information has been added to this PTI copy for context)
Edited by Megha Reddy