IIMB Covid warriors
Healing Hands
In the last week of April, in the middle of the pandemic, a group of IIMB faculty members, students, alumni, and community members came together to form an initiative called “Healing Hands” to help India’s medical professionals and COVID warriors who are leading the fight against COVID-19 from the front. In its first project, the Healing Hands initiative raised funds for St Philomena’s Hospital, Bangalore, to provide PPE kits to COVID warriors at the hospital.
Healing Hands organized a social media campaign, where prominent artists and intellectuals shared their appreciation for COVID warriors to raise funds. To motivate people to donate to the project, a fundraiser- Meditate For India, a 24-hour Meditation and Yoga COVID Fundraiser event, was organized on 15th and 16th May 2021. A total of 20 lakh rupees was raised for the St Philomena’s Hospital with the help of around 200 donors. The funds have been released to them.
Since mid-May, the IIMB Healing Hands community joined hands with members of the IIM Ahmedabad community for project CHHAAV – a project to provide health kits to ASHA workers, and IIMA and IIMB volunteers have come together to fundraise and deliver health kits to rural India.
The project has received the endorsement of the Directors of IIMA and IIMB.
With the support of around 900 donors, Project CHHAAV has raised over 46 lakh rupees. Moreover, corporations and philanthropic organizations have also joined to help in the cause in various ways (funds, outreach, supplies). By the first week of June, 7000 frontline ASHA workers would have received health kits in 11 blocks of Gujarat and MP.
We encourage you to reach out with your support, questions, and suggestions to Manaswini Bhalla (manaswinib@iimb.ac.in), Prateek Raj (prateekraj@iimb.ac.in), and Ankur Sarin (asarin@iima.ac.in). The initiative is raising funds on: https://bit.ly/3vKoYHh
Project CHHAAV – Measure, Manage, Mitigate
(An initiative by IIM Bangalore & IIM Ahmedabad volunteers to fight Covid in rural India)
Covid-19 has affected human life in unprecedented ways regardless of class, caste, gender, etc. Rural India has half of the country’s virus caseload but unfortunately, with only less than 10% of the infrastructure required to drag them out of this engulfing pandemic. With the lack of infrastructure for treatment and diagnosis, most families prefer to stay at home (quarantined or not quarantined) even with severe symptoms of Covid. The healthcare treatment & diagnosis infrastructure in rural areas is broken, leading to innumerable struggles for the frontline healthcare workers (ASHA workers, Anganwadi workers, and ANMs). In India, ASHA workers, Anganwadi workers, and ANMs have spearheaded most of the government’s community health programs in rural areas. However, unfortunately, Frontline Healthcare workers are not adequately equipped with basic safety gear to execute their pandemic duties.
To help and assist such Frontline Healthcare workers, IIM Bangalore and IIM Ahmedabad volunteers have come forward with an initiative, ‘Project CHHAAV’. This project aims to ensure every frontline worker is equipped with a basic safety kit, including a Pulse oximeter, Reusable masks, Face shields, Digital thermometers and Sanitizer, and booklets with kit instructions in their local languages. The pilot program is set to kickstart in the first week of June in 3 districts, one in Madhya Pradesh and two in Gujarat. The project has been associated with NGOs such as Aga Khan rural support program, Transforming Rural India Foundation (TRIF), RCRC which has a presence across 12 states.
However, the project’s vision is not limited to these three districts but intends to distribute at least 1 Million kits in 45 rural districts across 9 states. In reaching the target value, it takes more than a small volunteer cohort, and hence the project has raised a fundraiser and is trying to partner with more NGOs, HNIs, and companies.
To know more about the project and to donate: https://www.impactguru.com/fundraiser/chhaav-by-iim
The team behind Project CHHAAV:
The team behind this initiative includes faculty, alumni, and students at IIM Bangalore and IIM Ahmedabad. The core team from IIM Bangalore includes Professors Gopal Naik, Venkatesh Panchapagesan, Suresh Bhagavatula, Sreelata Jonnalagedda, Dalhia Mani, Arnab Mukherji, Prateek Raj and Manaswini Bhalla, along with Ms. Sangitha Krishnamurthi from the IIMB community. The core team from IIM Ahmedabad includes Professors Rakesh Basant, Rajesh Chandwani, Pritha Dev, Ram Mohan Turaga, Ambrish Dongre, Amit Karna, Pranav Singh, Arun Sreekumar, and Ankur Sarin.
– Sravan Kumar Menthula
PGP 2020-22
Contributors:
Mythili 
Sravan 
