Capgemini sets aside ₹200 Crores Benevolent Fund for COVID-19 Support to employees in India

With the growing COVID-19 Crisis in India, many IT and ITeS companies have come forward for the community as well as the employees. Capgemini is the latest among IT companies to announce relief to India to tackle the crisis. The company announced a ₹50 crore fund to augment medical infrastructure in India. It has also contributed ₹5 crores to UNICEF for immediate support across India for critical COVID-19 response care. Further, the company set up three oxygen generation plants and RT-PCR testing machines in its fight against the pandemic.

Last year, as a part of its Employee Assistance Program, Capgemini Group instituted a Benevolent Fund. The fund of €25 Mn (₹200 Crores) aims to provide assistance towards health and safety areas for Capgemini India employees and their families. Further, the IT major will cover the cost of vaccines for all eligible employees and their dependents.

Other Key Initiatives from Capgemini

Capgemini has set up a Virtual Clinic (Teleconsultation Services) to address employee queries vis-a-vis COVID-19 vaccination. It has also set up a centralized, All-India command centre for employees and their dependent’s medical emergencies; hospital beds, ICU, ventilators, ambulance service, blood plasma donors, oxygen concentrators, and medicine requests. With Project O2, the company will provide Oxygen Concentrators for the employees and their dependent family members; in a situation when they are unable to arrange for the equipment themselves.

Further, in case anyone needs financial assistance, employees can request for salary advance, the company noted. “In the unfortunate case of demise of any colleague due to Covid-19 related ailments in retrospect, effective January 1, 2020, we will extend an ex-gratia financial assistance to their nominee or next of kin. This financial assistance is in addition to the benefits covered under our Group Term Life policy,” said the company in a statement.

IT companies like TCS, Infosys, HCL, Tech Mahindra, Accenture are also taking several steps to help their employees and the country against COVID-19. Accenture has pledged NR 185 crore for pandemic relief efforts in India. This comes with its ongoing investments in its people and communities.