Corporate Citizen Claps For Philanthropist And It Stalwart Azim Premji For His Continuous Efforts In Aiding Relief In Many Different Ways Since The Covid-19 Outbreak

But, converting Wipro’s Pune-based IT facility into a 450-bed dedicated COVID-19 hospital within the month and a half, in record time, surpasses all humanitarian feats. Following a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the Maharashtra Government in May, Wipro’s re-purposed facility as a designated Covid hospital will assist the Maharashtra government in tackling the rising surge of Covid cases. The re-purposed IT facility located at Pune’s Hinjewadi will operate on a public-private partnership model. It is equipped with 504 beds, 18 ventilators, intensive care units and other medical facilities with two well-equipped ambulances. Twelve beds have been dedicated to treat and stabilise conditions of critical patients before shifting them to a tertiary care facility. The independent, Covid-19 dedicated health complex also includes 24 rooms for doctors and the medical staff. With Mumbai’s continuous uptick of 1,36,000 confirmed cases and 6,283 deaths, the recovery count of 67, 706 cases, the government is on a war footing and Wipro’s timely gesture provides the much-needed morale booster. Uddhav Thackeray, Chief Minister, Maharashtra said that “The hospital building is a symbol of the quality and pace at which Wipro works for the society as well.” In response, Chairperson Rishad Premji, said, “We are completely committed to supporting the country’s response to the pandemic and believe that we must all work together to deal with this crisis and minimise its human impact.” Post the pandemic outbreak, the Azim Premji Foundation along with Wipro Ltd and Wipro Enterprises Ltd had pooled in a commitment of Rs.1,125 crore towards combating the medical as well as the slew of humanitarian crisis that followed. In a quiet strategy, the company instead of contributing its Covid kitty to the PM Cares Fund, mobilised dedicated medical and other services to healthcare workers nationwide. The IT major outperformed its good deeds when it concluded food distribution to stranded migrant workers a total of 2.97 million meals over 74 continuous ‘lockdown’ days!

Corporate Citizen Slaps The ‘Stigma’, Societal Ostracisation, And The Subsequent Growth Of A Recoiled Mindset That Seems To Shoot Up With The Rise In ‘Covid-19’ Counts A Greater Evil Than The Pandemic Itself!

Historically, the link between pandemics and social ostracization has been witnessed globally and famously too as in the 1900s to Mary Mallon or Typhoid Mary! Who would forget the trauma endured by African Americans stigmatised for the syphilis spread in the early 2000s? While misconceptions related to HIV/AIDs is more recent, it needed celebrity role models like Magic Johnson to educate society to co-exist with patients suffering from prolonged, and chronic conditions like AIDS. Following the outbreak, patients and Covid-19 suspects nationwide are facing ostracisation by their neighbours and relatives. It is ironical that healthcare and frontline workers have faced the greater brunt despite endangering their own lives and that of their families in the line of duty. The agony of being stigmatised is irrespective of social status or professional backdrops. A cardiologist and a corona warrior could face equal societal and mental agony as that of a Corona ‘suspect’ corporate executive. Home quarantine is often a nightmare as agitated neighbours have cornered victims or suspects by lodging FIRs at local police stations on allegations of endangering lives of residents. The added embarrassment of being watched and photographs clicked echoes inhuman barriers to compassion. Cutting off essential services adds to the mental trauma. In the case of ‘dignity denied’ even in death, Dr Simon Hercules, Managing Director of New Hope Hospital, Chennai, faced burial disruptions at two cemeteries in Chennai by mobs. It took his courageous colleague Dr Pradeep to drive the ambulance wearing PPE and buried the departed soul with his own hands! Recovery and clean chit from the disease is a bane too as was experienced by a 44 year old West-Bengal resident when forced to stay in a makeshift tent near a bamboo forest, post-recovery. Rupam, a Kolkata-based corporate executive, was ordered by the secretary of his Residents’ Association to leave the premises and forced him to check-into a nearby corporate hospital. Despite being asymptomatic throughout the quarantine period, he was allowed back home after he obtained his Covid-negative certificate. The stigma attached to Covid-19 is building up to yesteryear’s leprosy-like ostracisation despite inching towards proposed Covid-19 cures and vaccinations. Patient pending, and compassion is the key lest we forcibly and shamefully carry bells as did victims of pandemics in the olden days!