Anand Mahindra Starts 'Banana Leaves As Plates' Initiative To Help Farmers, Wins Internet

Coronavirus pandemic has sparked a massive global economic crisis. The International Monetary Fund Experts says the world is likely to witness the worst financial crisis since 'The Great Depression'. In India, the informal sector is worst-hit due to the national lockdown. Adding to the agrarian stress, the farmers are facing the brunt of the sealing drive with plunging demand and lack of transportation facilities. At a time when the nation is going through a tough phase, industrialist Anand Mahindra started a unique initiative that is not only environment-friendly but also a great help to the farmers. (Coronavirus Outbreak Live Updates)

The auto tycoon recently shared an update about the idea that he has implemented across the canteens of his factories in India. Mahindra said that he got a mail from an ex-journalist about replacing steel plates with banana leaves. Padma Ramnath mailed Mahindra about the idea and told him how this initiative will help the farmers. Mahindra instantly acted on this and implemented the idea across all his factories.

A retired journalist, Padma Ramnath mailed me out of the blue & suggested that if our canteens used banana leaves as plates, it would help struggling banana farmers who were having trouble selling their produce. Our proactive factory teams acted instantly on the idea...Thank you! pic.twitter.com/ouUx7xfMdK

— anand mahindra (@anandmahindra) April 9, 2020

"A retired journalist, Padma Ramnath mailed me out of the blue & suggested that if our canteens used banana leaves as plates, it would help struggling banana farmers who were having trouble selling their produce. Our proactive factory teams acted instantly on the idea...Thank you," Mahindra said on Twitter. He also shared photos of the workers enjoying meals on banana leaves. The post is winning the internet, it has been retweeted 9.7K times with 60.3K likes at the time of publishing this story. People are hailing Mahindra's vision and will to implement such a sustainable idea to help out the farmers.

Here's how Twitter reacted to Mahindra's idea:

1/2
Amazing initiative. It's about time that we go back to our ancient practices.
Reasons to use banana leaf:
1. Eco-friendly, easily disposable, not required to clean used utensils and saves water!

— CoronaFreeIndia (@indie_electric) April 9, 2020

I haven’t seen too many philanthropist businessmen . Good to have people like you in our nation.

— Alok gupta🇮🇳 (@alokg2k) April 9, 2020

Great.. My pranaams and respect for being pro active

— Ramesh Menon (@rm_bjp) April 9, 2020

Wonderful idea and prompt execution 😊👍👍👍

— Dr Charuhas (@charuhasmujumd1) April 9, 2020

Meanwhile, India saw an increase of 547 new COVID-19 cases in the last 12 hours, according to the latest updates by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare on Friday morning. This surge took the total number of coronavirus positive cases to 6,412 in India. The death count due to COVID-19 in India rose to 199 with 30 new deaths being reported since Thursday evening. Twenty-five deaths were reported from Maharashtra, three from Delhi and one each from Gujarat and Jharkhand. Out of the total cases, 5,709 are active patients while 504 of them have been cured/discharged and migrated, as per the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare. Out of the 6,412 case, 71 are foreign nationals.