Piramal Foundation, Niti Launch Home-Care Support For COVID Patients In Aspirational Districts

Piramal Foundation along with government think-tank NITI Aayog on Tuesday launched a three-month campaign to provide home-care support to 20 lakh Covid-19 patients, who are asymptomatic or have mild symptoms in 112 aspirational districts.

Last year too, Piramal Foundation -- the philanthropic arm of Piramal Enterprises -- had run a campaign 'Surakshit Dada Dadi, Nana Nani Abhiyaan' under which it created awareness about wearing mask and using hand sanitisers one-on-one basis to 2.9 million elderly citizens in villages.

The new campaign 'Surakshit Hum Surakshit Tum Abhiyaanin' is expected to play a key role in aspirational district preparedness for managing nearly 70 per cent of Covid cases at home, reducing pressure on the health system, and stemming the spread of fear amongst the people, the Foundation said.

Aspirational districts are those districts in India which are lagging on development indicators. About 112 aspirational districts have been identified by NITI Aayog.

This campaign is a 'significant initiative that responds to immediate needs and will provide long-term support to India's poorest communities in the Aspirational Districts by addressing the lasting impact of Covid-19,' NITI Aayog CEO Amitabh Kant said while launching the campaign.

Speaking to PTI, Piramal Group Chairman Ajay Piramal said this campaign is for three-month but the Foundation's work in aspirational districts that began in 2018 will otherwise continue. This collaboration with Niti Aayog is for addressing the immediate issue of the pandemic. Human development indices in aspirational districts are actually the most backward.

'We are going to help deliver the government resources to the last mile.' Elaborating about the campaign, Piramal Foundation CEO Aditya Natraj said that last year the Foundation had created awareness about wearing masks and importance of sanitizing hands among 2.9 million elderly citizens in villages.

In a similar way, the Foundation is going to train local volunteers to connect with covid patients who are asymptomatic or have mild symptoms in aspirational districts and assist them in how to take care of the infection, he said.

According to the Piramal Foundation, the campaign aims to train 1 lakh local volunteers to connect with patients through inbound/outbound calls and also undertake capacity building of citizens for correct usage of Oxygen concentrators that have been supplied to these districts.

The campaign will be led by district magistrates in partnership with over 1000 local NGOs, which will enlist and train over 1 lakh volunteers to connect with patients.

The Foundation, in a statement, said that it will support district administration in the training of NGOs and volunteers.

NGOs will mobilize local volunteers to provide home-care support to those affected, based on the guidelines of the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare. Volunteers will be trained to support 20 affected families each by educating caretakers to follow Covid protocols, provide psycho-social support and timely updates about patients to the administration, it said. 

(PTI)