Coronavirus in India: Wipro, Azim Premji Foundation commit Rs 1,125 cr to tackle COVID-19 pandemic

Wipro Ltd, Wipro Enterprises Ltd and Azim Premji Foundation, have together committed Rs 1125 crore towards tackling the unprecedented health and humanitarian crisis arising from the COVID-19 pandemic outbreak.

These resources will help enable the dedicated medical and service fraternity in the frontline of the battle against the pandemic and in mitigating its wide-ranging human impact, particularly on the most disadvantaged of our society.

Integrated action will be taken for a comprehensive on-the-ground response in specific geographies, focused on immediate humanitarian aid, and augmentation of healthcare capacity, including containing the COVID-19 outbreak and treating those affected by it.

These responses will be carefully coordinated with relevant government institutions and would be executed by the Azim Premji Foundation’s 1600-person team, in collaboration with many of its over 350 strong civil society partners, who have a deep presence across the country.

These efforts will fully leverage the technology expertise, sourcing systems, infrastructure, and distribution reach of Wipro. Of the Rs 1125 crore, Wipro Ltd’s commitment is Rs 100 crore, Wipro Enterprises Ltd’s is Rs 25 crore, and that of the Azim Premji Foundation is Rs 1000 crore.

This is in addition to the annual CSR activities of Wipro, and the usual philanthropic spends of the Azim Premji Foundation. Modern global society has not confronted a crisis of this magnitude and type.

A statement issued by Wipro said that "The Azim Premji Foundation and Wipro believe that we must all work together to not only deal with this crisis and minimize its human impact, particularly on the disadvantaged, but also learn from these extraordinary times, to develop a more resilient global community, based on justice, equity, humaneness, and ecological sustainability. We are completely committed to this quest and wish everyone all safety."