As the country grappling with Covid-19 pandemic, the HDFC Bank has decided to undertake a slew of measures to fight against the deadly virus.
The bank under its Parivartan initiative, on Friday announced to set up and enhance medical infrastructure across the country in a bid to fight against the pandemic.
The measures comprise setting up permanent medical infrastructure such as Oxygen plants, medical equipment, and ICU facilities, in addition to providing medical supplies to hospitals across India, said a statement.
The Bank has committed an initial amount of Rs 100 crore under Parivartan in 2021-22 for Covid-19 relief initiatives.
In 2020-21, the Bank contributed Rs 120 crore towards Covid-19 relief, as part of Parivartan.
To help improve the medical infrastructure across India, the Bank decided to set up 20 Oxygen plants across various hospitals in India.
It has also decided to set up three, 100-bed Covid care facilities and create two Isolation centres.
The bank further planned to provide medical equipment and supplies to more than 200 hospitals across the country
For setting up Oxygen plants and Covid care medical facilities, the Bank will work with the local administration to identify the hospitals across India.
Further, the Bank has also planned to offer scholarships under ECSS (Education Crisis Scholarship Scheme) to students affected by the pandemic and provide monthly rations to close to 1.5 lakh individuals across villages.
“HDFC Bank believes that the community and organisations need to come together to battle the pandemic,” said Ashima Bhat, Group Head – CSR, Business Finance and Strategy, Administration, and Infrastructure, HDFC Bank.
“Our efforts are a small token of our commitment towards society. We believe in creating long term sustainable infrastructure under Parivartan and the initiatives outlined to help combat Covid-19 emanates from this ethos,” she said.
Bhat said they are working with their NGO partners and local administration to create the necessary medical infrastructure like Oxygen plants, medical equipment and Covid care facilities.
“Going forward, we will focus on critical areas like education and livelihood, particularly for families affected by Covid-19 and work on more such long term sustainable initiatives,” she added.