Reliance Foundation Chairperson Nita Ambani said on Thursday that Reliance Industries Ltd. (RIL) is producing over 11 per cent of India's supply of medical-grade liquid oxygen, the highest by a single company at a single location.
"We are providing this Pran Vayu - oxygen - to one out of every 10 COVID patients in India... and offering this service to the nation free of cost," explained Nita Ambani at Reliance Industries' 44th Annual General Meeting.
Nita Ambani was detailing the outcome of 'Mission Oxygen', which was one of the five missions launched by the Reliance Foundation to deal with the COVID-19 crisis in the country. The other missions were - Mission COVID Infra, Mission Anna Seva, Mission Employee Care, and Mission Vaccine Suraksha.
Ambani noted that RIL swung into action when COVID-19 cases started to rise in the country and within a few days it repurposed its Jamnagar refinery to produce high-purity medical grade liquid oxygen. "Within two weeks, we ramped up production to a massive 1100 Metric Tonnes per day," noted Ambani.
"It would normally take over a year to set up a new medical grade oxygen plant of this capacity. But it was a super-human effort by our Reliance engineers, who put in more than 85,000 man-hours of work in less than 10 days to make it possible. They delivered what mattered the most, when it mattered the most!", added the Reliance Foundation founder.
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Nita Ambani further stated that in order to address India's serious bottleneck of tankers, Reliance procured 100 new medical-grade oxygen tankers both from within India and other parts of the world, like Germany, Singapore, Saudi Arabia, Netherlands, Belgium, Thailand, Indonesia, and put them into service within two weeks.
"We also helped in installing Oxygen Generators in several hospitals across the country, to strengthen oxygen availability. I salute all our engineers, doctors, and frontline warriors for working selflessly & tirelessly for Mission Oxygen," conveyed Nita Ambani.
Under 'Misson COVID Infra', Reliance had set up India's first dedicated 250 bedded COVID-19 facility in Mumbai during the first wave of the pandemic. By the time the second wave hit the country, the firm had set up additional 875 beds for COVID-19 care in Mumbai alone, according to Nita Ambani. "Across India, we created a total capacity of over 2000 beds for COVID care, all equipped to provide uninterrupted oxygen supply and totally free-of-cost treatment," said Nita Ambani.
Reliance had also launched a COVID-19 testing lab with a capacity of over 15,000 tests per day.
The foundation also launched 'Mission Anna Seva' during the COVID-19 pandemic. This was part of the company's commitment to feed the needy. Reliance also extended its commitment to cattle and other stray animals during the COVID-19 crisis. "Today, this commitment has taken the form of the largest meal distribution programme undertaken by a corporate foundation anywhere in the world. We have so far provided more than 7.5 crore free meals to marginalised communities, daily-wage earners, and frontline workers across the country," explained Nita Ambani.
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Under 'Mission Employee Care', Reliance made sure that no jobs, no salaries, and no bonuses were cut due to the COVID-19 outbreak, said Nita Ambani. Reliance also paid full medical expenses of employees and provided fully paid leaves. To the families of employees who died due to COVID-19, Reliance will continue to pay the deceased employee's salary to the family for the next five years. The firm will finance their children's education in India till graduation and ensure continuity of medical coverage to the family for life. Additionally, a sum of Rs 10 lakh will be provided to the families of Reliance's off-roll employees who succumbed to COVID-19.
"My prayers, thoughts, and deepest condolences are with every family who has lost a loved on," expressed Nita Ambani.
Under Mission Vaccine Suraksha, Reliance has set up 116 vaccinations centres in 109 cities across the country in order to speed up the COVID-19 vaccination drive. Reliance has made the vaccination process easier through its JioHealthHub platform, Nita Ambani noted. Using this platform beneficiaries can book vaccination slot and generate COVID-19 certificate using just one click.
The Reliance Foundation will offer the JioHealthHub platform absolutely free of cost to all users. It also hopes to scale the platform to 1 lakh vaccinations a day. "As we speak, we are already testing this platform with our Reliance family," said Ambani.
"We are currently vaccinating all 20 lakh of our Extended Family, including retired employees, partner company employees, and their families - free of cost. Reliance's Mission Vaccine Suraksha is one of the largest corporate vaccination drives in India," explained the Reliance Foundation Chairperson.
(Edited by Mohammad Haaris Beg)
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