State-run shadow banking firm REC on Monday said it has reached out to 36,500 needy people across the country with food and ration during the lockdown to contain COVID-19.
"From Srinagar to Chennai, Ahmedabad to Kolkata, starvation is as much a threat as COVID-19 for daily wagers, many of them migrants from different parts of India.
"Concerned over their plight, REC Foundation, the CSR arm of REC Ltd, has started distributing cooked food, rations, utility packets, masks, sanitizers and even providing shelter during the lockdown to over 36,500 daily wagers and their families," REC said in a statement.
REC Foundation has already released funds overRs 3.26 crore for these activities, and more such funds are already in the pipeline, it added.
REC Foundation in association with respective state-owned power distribution utilities is providing food grain packets and other utility packets like masks and sanitizers.
It has also tied up with Delhi Police to provide 500 ration kits on a daily basis to over 2,000 beneficiaries.
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REC Foundation has also released funds to the offices of distribution companies, collector and/or district magistrates of various districts across India to provide cooked meals twice a day for 10-30 days.
Talks are on with many other districts for execution of the same in their areas. In addition to these, food kits are also being provided in these districts to those who have facilities to cook at home, it added.
Around 300 workers and daily wagers engaged in construction of REC World Head Quarters, Gurugram belonging to various states like Bihar, West Bengal, Odisha, Gujarat, among others,and other needy people from vicinity areas are also being provided ration items like atta, rice, dal, edible oil, soap, sanitizers on a bi-weekly basis, it said.
REC has already donated Rs 150 crore to the Prime Minister's Citizen Assistance and Relief in Emergency Situations (PM CARES) Fund to support India's fight against coronavirus, it said.
REC focuses on power sector financing and development across India.
It is also the nodal agency for Government of India flagship schemes in the power sector like Deendayal Upadhyaya Gram Jyoti Yojana (DDUGJY), Saubhagya, among others.