The novel coronavirus, or COVID-19, pandemic is the greatest challenge the globe is dealing with right now. Countries across the globe are doing all they can to control the spread of this deadly virus.
India has been lauded for early initiatives of banning international flights and afterward reporting a 21-day nationwide lockdown, trailed by the lighting of diyas and electric lamps. Many startups have come forward to lend a helping hand in the wake of the COVID-19 crisis. Beginning from the Ride-hailing unicorn Ola, which has announced 'Drive the Driver Fund' program and crowdfunding adding up to INR 20 Cr to maintain the financial stability of the workers. Both ride-hailing giants Ola and Uber have extended their services to support healthcare providers, government initiatives, and medical professionals. Uber has started UberMedic, thereby assisting healthcare providers to book cabs to reach to healthcare centers,in the meantime, Ola has reached out to the government of Karnataka with an of offer 500 cabs to support state initiatives and offering interest-free micro-credit loans for driver-partners under its program named as Sahyog.
Likewise, Gurugram-headquartered home services startup Urban Company, previously known as UrbanClap, has set up a Covid-19 Relief Fund to provide sustenance backing to its 30K service providers over the next few months along with interest-free business advances with delayed payback period, income protection and health insurance. Also, several other companies that rely on gig economy workers to go about their day-to-day operations have taken up similar practices and set up funds including Swiggy's 'Hope Not, Hunger' initiative with the help of partners such as Compass Kitchens, Lite Bite Foods and SmartQ to help provide meals twice a day to underprivileged, daily wagers and stranded migrant labourers during the 21-day lockdown. Similarly, another food delivery giant Zomato has launched 'Feed The Daily Wager' campaign, providing 100,000 ration kits to a family of 5 members for a week that comes out to be 1 crore meals (1 Cr meals =100,000*7days*3 times a day*5 family members). Alongside, these initiatives, Marico Ltd, one of India's leading FMCG firms has collaborated with Swiggy and Zomato to introduce 'Saffola Store' on the country's foremost food tech platforms. In addition, various CEOs of various startups have chosen to forego their yearly pay and bolster the country in the fight against Corona.
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