As India is gripped by the second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic, pressure on its medical infrastructure has intensified. There has been acute shortage of oxygen, beds and other facilities in several parts of the country.
The challenges are further aggravated in rural areas which have their unique features. In Palghar district of Maharashtra, due to tough geographic conditions, possibility of supplying oxygen cylinders and timely refilling is difficult. Oxygen concentrators are, hence, the best solution to this problem.
Realizing the gravity of the situation, IIFL Foundation partnered with Raah Foundation to provide 40 oxygen concentrators of varying capacity (5 or 10 liters per minute) to COVID care centres in Jawhar and Mokhada regions. These regions are dominated by the native tribal community – Warli. They have witnessed addition of 2,100 new cases every day.
Madhu Jain, Director, IIFL Foundation said, “We have been closely watching the developments around the pandemic and are committed to supporting our communities in these testing times. An important step in this direction is addressing the shortage of oxygen in our communities. This will facilitate proper and timely treatment of patients, and reduction in number of deaths. It is our strong belief that by staying together and supporting each other, we can abate this crisis soon.”
Going forward, IIFL Foundation will continue to undertake relief measures and support the underprivileged sections of the society in their fight against the pandemic.
IIFL Foundation is the CSR arm of diversified financial conglomerate IIFL Group, which runs one of India’s largest girl child education programs – ‘Sakhiyon Ki Baadi’ – which has already educated over 36,000 girls in rural districts of Rajasthan.
