the money will get urgent medical supplies to India
Google has announced a donation of £13 million to help India manage the spread of Covid-19 in the country.
India is currently experiencing an intense second wave of the virus, with case numbers reaching record highs.
The country is also running increasingly low on hospital beds, oxygen and other essential equipment.
The announcement of Google’s large donation came on Monday, April 26, 2021.
Google and Alphabet CEO Sundar Pichai took to Twitter to declare the donation and what it will be spent on.
Devastated to see the worsening Covid crisis in India. Google & Googlers are providing Rs 135 Crore in funding to @GiveIndia, @UNICEF for medical supplies, orgs supporting high-risk communities, and grants to help spread critical information.https://t.co/OHJ79iEzZH
— Sundar Pichai (@sundarpichai) April 26, 2021
Pichai said:
“Devastated to see the worsening Covid crisis in India.
“Google & Googlers are providing Rs 135 Crore (£13 million) in funding to @GiveIndia, @UNICEF for medical supplies, orgs supporting high-risk communities, and grants to help spread critical information.”
According to Google, the money will get urgent medical supplies to India and help families survive the crisis.
Speaking of Google’s plans for their donation, Sanjay Gupta, Google India’s Head and Vice President, said:
“The first is to GiveIndia to provide cash assistance to families hit hardest by the crisis to help with their everyday expenses.
“The second will go to UNICEF to help get urgent medical supplies, including oxygen and testing equipment, to where it’s needed most in India.”
Google’s donation includes two grants amounting to £2 million from Google.org, Google’s philanthropic arm.
It also includes money from the tech giant’s ongoing employee giving campaign.
So far, more than £350,000 has been raised for organisations that support high-risk communities.
Google’s donation also involves increased Ad Grant support for public health information campaigns.
Speaking of the need for accessible Covid-19 information, Sanjay Gupta said:
“We’re increasing our support today with an additional Rs 112 crore (£10.7 million) in Ad Grants to local health authorities and nonprofits for more language coverage options.
“That includes information on where to get testing and vaccines; so far, Maps and Search surface thousands of vaccine sites, and we are working to add tens of thousands more.
“We’re also collaborating closely with the Ministry of Health & Family Welfare, and with organisations like the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, to support vaccine awareness initiatives.”
Currently, the Covid-19 features on Google Search in India are available in English and eight Indian languages.
However, Google is planning to improve this further to allow wider communities to access vital Covid-19 information.
Multiple large corporations are stepping up to help India through its vigorous second wave.
On Sunday, April 25, 2021, Amazon announced a donation of 10,000 oxygen concentrators and BiPAP machines to hospitals across India.