May 20, 2020 - Tata Steel, through Tata Steel Foundation (TSF), has reached out to 3.15 lakh individuals in last 31 days of the COVID-19 lockdown period through its ten-point #CombatCOVID19 programme.

In addition to the Company’s operational areas in Jharkhand and Odisha, the community initiatives have also reached to another 19 States in the country during the lockdown.

A total of 18 lakh meals have been served to the poor during this period and 28000 packets of dry ration were distributed in the Company’s operational areas. More than a lakh masks have been made and distributed to ~40000 people.

Rs 30 lakh income, benefitting 2700 households, has been disbursed so far through TSF’s cash for work programme, which includes making wall writings, creating newspaper bags, setting up of kitchen gardens and more.

TSF, along with the East Singhbhum district administration, is exploring possibilities of a positive outreach mechanism to address the issues of migrant labour and linking them with the cash for work programme. The assessment of stress level, skills and economic implications are also being worked upon. The immediate concern of the government is reintegration of a large number of migrant labourers into the society.

In context of its continued medical efforts to fight the pandemic, Tata Main Hospital (TMH) Jamshedpur has tested a total of 145 samples since April 24 when the facility received the approval for COVID-19 testing. TMH is the first and the only private laboratory in Jharkhand to be certified by the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) for RT-PCR diagnostic testing for COVID-19. It has the capacity to test 50 samples per day.