Walmart Inc., Flipkart and the Walmart Foundation are supporting India’s Covid-19 response with a combined effort that will contribute needed personal protective equipment (PPE) for healthcare workers and financial support for organizations providing essential relief materials to farmers and small businesses.
Walmart Inc. and Flipkart will spend INR 383 million to bring in-kind donations into India to help with the front-line response efforts. The companies will focus on providing PPE, such as N95 masks and medical gowns, for distribution by non-government organizations (NGOs) to public healthcare workers. Walmart and Flipkart have already secured 300,000 N95 masks and 1 million medical gowns, and they will continue to leverage their global supply chains to source these critical necessities for medical workers who stand at the frontline of the fight against the Covid-19 outbreak in India.
In addition to this in-kind support, the Walmart Foundation is donating a total of INR 77 million to Goonj and Srijan, NGOs supporting vulnerable communities through the crisis. The funds will be used to support the procurement of essential relief materials, such as food, medicine, and hygiene items, for distribution by the organizations to support farmers, rural communities, and the micro-businesses.
“Our customers and associates in India have been deeply impacted by COVID-19 and our hearts continue to be with them,” said Kathleen McLaughlin, executive vice president, and chief sustainability officer for Walmart and president of the Walmart Foundation. “In times like these, we all need to come together to support our communities and the efforts of healthcare workers, NGOs, and government organizations. We are grateful to all those providing reliefs in India and we want to help.”
“Our Flipkart teams are working around the clock to respond to the COVID-19 crisis with care and compassion. We are very proud of them. The emergency relief efforts we are announcing today underscore our commitment to continuing to work with the private and public sector in India to respond to this unprecedented challenge,” said Kalyan Krishnamurthy, CEO, Flipkart Group.
While keeping supply lines open to ensure that Indian consumers have access to essential daily necessities, Walmart and Flipkart are also taking important steps to help protect public health and the safety of customers and associates as the Covid-19 situation continues to evolve. These efforts include enhanced hygiene practices across the supply chain and delivery network, insurance and health benefits for workers, contactless deliveries where possible and supporting cashless payments.
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