Wipro, Azim Premji Foundation Commit Rs 1,125 Crore To Fight Coronavirus Pandemic

Wipro Ltd, Wipro Enterprises Ltd and Azim Premji Foundation on Wednesday said they have together committed Rs 1,125 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, Wipro and the foundation said in a joint release. (Coronavirus Outbreak LIVE)

Of the Rs 1,125 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 1,000 crore. These sums are in addition to the annual CSR activities of Wipro and the usual philanthropic spends of the Azim Premji Foundation, it said. 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, it said.

The responses will be carefully coordinated with relevant government institutions and would be executed by the Azim Premji Foundation's 1,600-person team, in collaboration with many of its over 350 strong civil society partners, who have a deep presence across the country, the release added. These efforts will fully leverage the technology expertise, sourcing systems, infrastructure, and distribution reach of Wipro, it added.

Meanwhile, the number of COVID-19 cases climbed to 1,637 in the country on Wednesday while the death toll rose to 38, according to the Union Health Ministry. The number of active COVID-19 cases stands at 1,466, while 132 people were either cured or discharged and one had migrated to another country, the ministry stated. As per the health ministry's updated data at 9 AM, three fresh deaths were reported since the last update on Tuesday.

However, it could not be known from which parts of the country these three fatalities were reported. Till Tuesday night, Maharashtra had reported the most deaths (9) in the country so far, followed by Gujarat (6), Karnataka (3) Madhya Pradesh (3), Punjab (3), Delhi (2), West Bengal (2) and Jammu and Kashmir (2). Kerala, Telangana, Tamil Nadu, Bihar and Himachal Pradesh have reported a death each. The state-wise breakup of the cases was also not available immediately.