Satya Nadella, Sundar Pichai & Amazon pitch in to help India fight Covid-19

As India continues to battle a deadly second wave of Coronavirus (Covid-19) technology majors Google, Microsoft and Amazon have pledged support through various initiatives that will help with the ongoing oxygen and medical equipment shortage and requirements in the country.

Satya Nadella, CEO, Microsoft in a tweet said: “I am heartbroken by the current situation in India. I’m grateful the US government is mobilizing to help. Microsoft will continue to use its voice, resources, and technology to aid relief efforts, and support the purchase of critical oxygen concentration devices.”

Meanwhile, Sundar Pichai, CEO, Alphabet, tweeted: “Devastated to see the worsening Covid crisis in India. Google & Googlers are providing Rs 135 Crore in funding to @GiveIndia, @UNICEF for medical supplies, orgs supporting high-risk communities, and grants to help spread critical information”

Google India’s Country Head and Vice President, Sanjay Gupta, wrote in a blog post that the company is announcing Rs 135 crore ($18 million) in funding for India, including two grants from Google.org, Google’s philanthropic arm, totalling Rs 20 crore ($2.6 million).

The first is to GiveIndia to provide cash assistance to families hit hardest by the crisis to help with their everyday expenses. The second will go to UNICEF to help get urgent medical supplies, including oxygen and testing equipment, to where it’s needed most in India, Gupta said in the blog

It also includes donations from Google’s ongoing employee giving campaign — so far more than 900 Googlers have contributed Rs 3.7 crore ($500,000) for organisations supporting high-risk and marginalised communities.

“Right now India is going through our most difficult moment in the pandemic thus far. Daily Covid-19 cases continue to set record highs, with hospitals filled to capacity and in need of urgent supplies to cope with the increasing number of patients. Our Google community and their families are feeling the devastating impact, too. We’re asking ourselves what more we can do as a company to ensure people get the information and support they need to keep their families and communities healthy and safe,” said Gupta.

The funding also includes increased ad grants for public health information campaigns. “Since last year, we’ve helped MyGov and the World Health Organization reach audiences with messages focused on how to stay safe and facts about vaccines. We’re increasing our support today with an additional 112 Crore INR ($15 million) in Ad Grants to local health authorities and nonprofits for more language coverage options,” he added.

Late Sunday night, Amazon India also pledged support to India through various initiatives by using its global logistics network to airlift oxygen concentrators.

The company said it was joining hands with ACT Grants, Temasek Foundation, Pune Platform for Covid-19 Response (PPCR) and other partners to urgently airlift over 8000 oxygen concentrators and 500 BiPAP machines from Singapore.

“Covid-19 has severely impacted India in unimaginable ways. We stand firmly with the country, deploying our global logistics network to urgently airlift the needed oxygen concentrators to support the nation’s immediate need. We continue to explore other meaningful ways to help in saving lives and are committed to support the nation in this time of crisis.” said Amit Agarwal, global SVP and country head, Amazon India, in a post.