With the lockdown being pushed further in key cities, IHCL has further announced an extension to its relief programme for another month.
Following the global pandemic and national lockdown, IHCL responding to the urgent requirement of safe and nutritious food launched the meals programme with the Taj Public Service Welfare Trust (TPSWT), wherein IHCL co-ordinated with local authorities to provide nutritious meals to those in need across the country. Today, Indian Hotels’ Company Limited (IHCL) has delivered over 1.65 million meals.
Puneet Chhatwal, Managing Director & CEO, Indian Hotels’ Company Limited (IHCL) commenting on the initiative shares, “As the country began its fight against the pandemic, the medical community quickly came to the fore as the true heroes of the crisis. With the resultant lockdown, IHCL committed itself to provide meals for Doctors, healthcare workers and migrant workers. Now, after nearly 1.6 million meals distributed, we at IHCL have decided to continue offering the initiative for another month.
"Our decision was based on popular requests from the medical fraternity and our continuing strong relationship with the BMC. This effort wouldn’t be possible without the support of the Tata group companies who in true Tata spirit came together to enable us to continue providing this service. We are deeply grateful to the medical community for their sacrifice and dedication during these challenging times.”
The Taj Public Service Welfare Trust is distributing nutritious meals to medical staff in key hospitals/COVID-19 centres in Mumbai, Bengaluru and New Delhi. The meals are prepared and delivered by TajSats in Mumbai and New Delhi. TajSats is an IHCL company and India’s market leader in airline catering. It has partnered with Chef Sanjeev Kapoor for Mumbai, Bangalore and New Delhi for this initiative. In Mumbai the company is working closely with the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) to offer over 10,000 meals a day to the medical fraternity at the Kasturba Hospital, The King Edward Memorial Hospital, Lokmanya Tilak Municipal Medical College and General Hospital, Nair Hospital and J J Hospital. 5,90,000 meals will have been delivered to date. IHCL & TPSWT are also distributing meals to medical staff in Victoria Hospital and Old Diseases Hospital in Bengaluru in partnership with the Taj West End - over 17,000 meals have been delivered to date. As of 30th March 2020, they started serving meals at Lady Hardinge Medical College in New Delhi which then expanded to include 7 hospitals in New Delhi – these are Lok Nayak Jai Prakash Narayan Hospital, Lady Hardinge Medical College, Rajiv Gandhi Super Speciality Hospital, G B Pant Hospital, Guru Teg Bahadur Hospital, Deen Dayal Upadhyay and Dr Ambedkar Hospital. Over 1,91,000 meals have been delivered in New Delhi. An additional initiative was flagged off on March 31, 2020. In partnership with Tata Sons, TPSWT is providing meals to migrant workers in Mumbai. This is also handled by TajSATS. 7,85,000 meals have been delivered till today. Eleven IHCL hotels across the country are offering rooms to the medical fraternity during these challenging times – they are Taj Lands End, Taj Santacruz, The President and Ginger Andheri East in Mumbai, Ginger Madgaon, Ginger City Centre, Noida, Ginger New Delhi Rail Yatri Niwas, Ginger Kalinganagar, Ginger Manesar, Ginger Surat and Vivanta Guwahati. Additionally, 38 other IHCL branded hotels are being used for quarantine purposes for guests which includes the repatriation flights.