Food Bundles to Free Flights For Doctors: India Inc Comes Together To Rebuild Kerala!

Kerala is slowly rebuilding itself after the floods, and various companies have decided to pitch in.

By Rayomand Engineer

August 22, 2018

As per the latest reports, the rains have eased in Kerala, and the long struggle to recover from the devastation has begun.

However, relief efforts are ensuring that the state’s inhabitants are not alone. There have been many commendable efforts, on the personal and the administrative level.

Who can forget the small-time trader who donated his entire stock of blankets towards flood relief? Or the NRI billionaire who has decided to pledge Rs 50 crore to the state. Even ISRO has pitched in, monitoring the flood situation via satellites, sending data and real-time images to ground stations.

Well, in addition to relief efforts from all over, tech companies like Google, PayTM, Amazon, Facebook, Twitter, Big Basket, Zomato, Ola, Truecaller and others, have come forward to help in rescue operations and food distribution according to NDTV. Telecom companies have also gotten involved, offering data, talk time and toll-free services to those affected.

Here are what companies are doing to help those affected by the Kerala floods.

Corporates in India came together to help those struck by the Kerala floods. Image Credit: MemeSubordinate and Deepinder Goyal

1) Google
The tech giant has implemented its Person Finder tool, to help find missing people in Kerala. Download the tool via the Google website, if you are looking for someone who is missing, or looking to share information about someone. Another feature called Plus Code can be used by flood victims to send 10 to 11 digit codes to potential rescuers. This code will help rescuers find the stranded person’s location accurately. Zoom in on the location to the maximum, touch and hold on the location, and drop a pin on the map. Google has also pinned a list of centres on GMAPS, highlighting rescue operations, shelters, food, water, medicines, essentials, volunteers and ambulances.

GiveIndia and The Better India have come together to help Rebuild Kerala by supporting 41,000 affected families. You too can be a part of this movement and help us raise funds for the NGOs working to rehabilitate these families. If all of us come together with a small monthly contribution, we can make a real and meaningful difference in helping restore normalcy to those who need our help the most.

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2) Facebook and Twitter
Facebook’s Safety Check feature allows users to check themselves safe. There is a crisis response page, which collects reliable content from credible sources related to the Kerala floods. Facebook has also put up a post that prompts users to donate to GOONJ or the Community Resilience Fund, an NGO that is spearheading relief and recovery efforts in the state.

On the other hand, Twitter remains the go-to place for information on the Kerala floods. The free and widely-available information is being used to coordinate relief efforts.

3) Zomato

We’ve partnered with The Akshaya Patra Foundation to start a relief fund for those affected by the Kerala floods – everyone can make a contribution that’ll go towards distributing food there. You can open the Zomato app and tap on “order food online” to donate. #KeralaFloods pic.twitter.com/iBLK3sQkjR
— Deepinder Goyal (@deepigoyal) August 18, 2018

Concentrating on its specialisation, Zomato has tied up with the Akshaya Patra Foundation, to donate food for Kerala flood victims. The ‘Help Kerala’ banner in the ‘Order Food Online’ section, allows users to donate vegetarian or non-vegetarian food for a certain number of people, and the meals are priced differently. Change your location to Angamali, Kochi, to see the Kerala Flood Relief Banner.

4) Amazon
The e-commerce giant has partnered with several NGOs, including Goonj, World Vision India, Oxfam and Habitat for Humanity, and is urging its customers to donate as per their needs. Visit the Amazon India page, choose an NGO of your choice from the list, add whatever products you’d like to send to them into a cart, select a gift registry address and make a payment.

The partnership between Amazon and the NGOs will ensure that the donated goods are sent directly to the selected relief camps.

5) Telecom companies
Mobile phone operators are offering conveniences like data and calling benefits to prepaid customers in Kerala while giving an extension on bill payments to postpaid customers, and overall, trying to ensure uninterrupted services.
The operators are also helping in other ways. For example, Idea has launched a service to help locate missing people and to find their last location. To locate a missing person, an Idea subscriber can dial 1948 (toll-free) to receive the last known location information of the missing person via an SMS. The company is also offering emergency talk time credits to customers. BSNL is offering users 20 minutes of free talk time, and free data for seven days.

6) Air Vistara

#AllForKerala: Please read this for important information on Vistara support options for Kerala floods relief. pic.twitter.com/TfHVaYl0P0
— Vistara (@airvistara) August 21, 2018

The Tata-owned airline has offered to fly doctors, nurses, disaster management experts and skilled volunteers from accredited institutions. According to IndiaTimes, the airline claimed it would fly these professionals ‘free of cost’ from Delhi and Chennai.

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(Edited by Gayatri Mishra)

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