FICCI SEDF and Goodera bring together India Inc's CSR leaders in the fight against COVID-19 pandemic

Mar 27, 2020

NEW DELHI, 27 March 2020: FICCI SEDF (FICCI Socio-Economic Development Foundation of India), FICCI's Foundation working in the CSR space since 1995 together with Good Era, a Series B funded startup and trusted platform for CSR and volunteering, yesterday announced a series of initiatives to channelize CSR capital towards Covid-19 relief and rehabilitation.

 

Over 150 CSR Heads from the biggest companies of India representing more than Rs 5,000 crore of annual CSR spend (~40% of India's CSR capital) gathered virtually on a webinar. The group discussed different projects in which CSR capital can help in fighting Covid relief. Some of the projects discussed include ventilators for hospitals, food packets for vulnerable sections of the society, PPE infrastructure for health workers amongst others.

 

The Ministry of Corporate Affairs has declared the pandemic a notified disaster and has begun to accept CSR support from corporates under Schedule VII's Preventive Healthcare and Disaster Management areas. State governments have also requested support for PPE kits, N95 masks, ventilators, pumps, beds and medicines in large volumes. India requires massive support from the entire ecosystem to combat COVID-19.

 

Some of the largest NGOs in the country were also in attendance, having offered to collaborate with corporates and enhance the impact they create.

 

The webinar was hosted by Ms Jyoti Vij Deputy Secretary General at FICCI and Mr Abhishek Humbad, Founder and CEO of Goodera. Ms Sujata Saunik, Additional Chief Secretary, Government of Maharashtra also joined the webinar.

 

The discussion revolved around the best practices and learnings to facilitate COVID-19 relief and rehabilitation under the CSR banner. Right now, a few large companies have undertaken steps to prevent the spread of the virus with funding, research, employee donations and relief for daily-wage workers. But the information asymmetry is huge and FICCI SEDF and Good Era will act as a bridge to connect the supply (Corporates, startups, their employees) and demand (NGOs, Governments, Hospitals, etc.) to channelize and facilitate CSR capital in an organized manner.

 

"India is going through a very tough period and FICCI is working closely with the government to understand the situation, gaps and needs. Simultaneously, FICCI SEDF and Goodera are partnering with India Inc and NGOs to bridge the gap on ground. We seek Industry's help in pooling their CSR funds to help those who have been most impacted socially and economically due to the unprecedented health crisis that the country is facing," said Ms Jyoti Vij, Deputy Secretary General, FICCI.

 

"Goodera will connect healthcare and other requirements arising from government bodies with CSR teams in real-time. Together with FICCI we coordinate with government agencies on the companies' behalf in executing and documenting CSR support. Our network of NGOs and healthcare infrastructure vendors will help companies out with procurement as well as delivery. Needless to say, we will help you track the dissemination of the funds and understand the impact your funds are creating on the ground," said Mr Abhishek Humbad, Founder and CEO of Goodera. He also urged all companies to act in a time sensitive manner and channelize any unspent CSR capital towards Covid relief efforts.

 

With the country in lockdown, the time to act is now. We need to spread awareness and help people across our entire economic ecosystem to fight COVID-19. Together, we can ward off this pandemic and together, we will prevail.