Coronavirus outbreak: Narayana Murthy, family donate Rs 10 crore for relief work

Infosys founder NR Narayana Murthy and his wife Sudha Murty along with their family have committed to offer Rs 10 crore from their personal funds toward Akshaya Patra Foundation for relief work related to coronavirus pandemic. The funds are intended to be used for serving food and distributing essential groceries to the migrant labourers and daily wage earners who have lost their livelihood and are in great despair.

The Akshaya Patra Foundation has been serving cooked meals and distributing food, relief kits consisting of essential groceries to migrant labourers and daily-wage earners.

In a press release, the Akshaya Patra Foundation said that Murthy family's contribution will help it serve over 55 lakh meals to people from vulnerable communities affected by the lockdown.

"Their generous donation will enable Akshaya Patra to distribute 1.33 lakh food relief kits which will serve 55,86,000 meals," the foundation said.

The food relief kits, which consist of essential groceries, will be distributed in various locations, such as Bengaluru, Delhi, Pune, Mathura, and Hyderabad. The contents of these relief kits will be based on the local palate, it said.

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"For instance, the kits that are to be distributed in South India will contain sona masuri rice (5 kg), tur dal (1 kg), oil (0.5 litre), sambar and rasam powder, and vegetables which have a long shelf-life, such as potatoes and pumpkins," the foundation said.

Acknowledging Murthy family's support, Madhu Pandit Dasa, Chairman, Akshaya Patra, said, "We have known the heart and mind of Narayana Murthy and Sudha Murty. They have worked all their life for the welfare of the citizens of this country. In giving their personal money for the benefit of the vulnerable sections of the society who are facing difficult times now, they have yet again demonstrated how socially responsible and compassionate they are."

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The family has supporter Akshaya Patra in the past too. In 2015, they helped build the Foundation's Hubballi kitchen, which serves over 1 lakh children every day. One of the biggest units, it was featured in popular TV show, India's Mega Kitchens on National Geographic Channel.

On Monday, Infosys Foundation, the philanthropic arm of Infosys, committed Rs 100 crore to support India's fight against COVID-19. The half of this commitment (Rs 50 crore) will go to the PM CARES Fund.