Network18 Launches #IndiaGives, a Campaign to Help the Poor During Coronavirus Crisis

Network18 on Tuesday launched #IndiaGives, a campaign meant to provide support to the daily wage earners who have been hit the hardest by the COVID-19 crisis in the country.

CNN-News18 and other Network18 channels and websites through their viewers and readers across the nation will be creating awareness and mobilising donors to raise money to help the poor who are finding it hard to make ends meet after a lockdown was imposed to curtail the spread of the novel coronavirus.

As part of the #IndiaGives initiative, all donations for this particular cause will be to the Prime Minister’s Relief Fund.

While we ask more and more people to generously contribute, all Network18 journalists and employees will also voluntarily contribute one day's salary to the initiative.

With India coming to a standstill and citizens cooped indoors to enforce social distancing, the informal economy has ground to a halt. From construction workers to those making a living by ironing clothes in the neighbourhood, daily wagers who live hand-to-mouth will run out of money for essential needs soon.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi has urged people to stay home and the majority of the country is under lockdown. As of Tuesday, India has reported more than 500 confirmed cases of coronavirus and 10 deaths, but the trajectory has been worrying with as experts said that it mirrors the rise seen in some European countries.

There has been a growing demand for financial assistance to workers from the informal sector, following Prime Minister Modi’s announcement last week of the formation of a Covid-19 economic response task force under finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman. Demands for regular payments to citizens as part of a universal basic income have also been gaining traction.

While some states have moved to provide assistance to the informal sector, a lot more needs to be done, and Network18 is calling upon people to contribute in whatever little way they can to help the vulnerable.

As part of the campaign, News18 has formed a special link - News18.com/IndiaGives – that will take you directly to the PM Relief Fund’s donation page.

All those who join the campaign and donated to the PM Relief Fund can tweet to News18 with #IndiaGives and they will be featured on a special Twitter wall as champions for the cause.