Cognizant's COVID-19 relief efforts have touched more than 1,294,000 lives across 8 states in India. Led by Cognizant Outreach, Cognizant’s employee volunteering programme, the efforts have been focussed on providing food, protection kits and other critical supplies to migrant labourers, daily wage earners, frontline workers, persons with disabilities, and marginalised communities.

Between April 2020 and August 2020, Cognizant donated well over 75,000 grocery kits, 182,000 meals, and 33,000 protective gear and hygiene kits in support of the causes referred by more than 100 charitable organisations. Cognizant recently honoured these organisations that partnered with the company in executing the relief efforts. 

“We are pleased to have had an opportunity to support marginalised and underprivileged people hit hardest by the COVID-19 pandemic,” said Deepak Prabhu Matti, Global Head of Cognizant Outreach. “The collective resolve and efforts of Cognizant employees, charitable organisations and implementation partners such as Round Table India Trust, Bhumi, Rotary Club of Madras East, United Way of Hyderabad and NASSCOM Foundation have helped make a significant difference in communities struggling not just to navigate a crisis of unprecedented proportions, but also to adapt to the new normal.”

In addition to supporting a wide array of initiatives ranging from providing grocery to transgender people at the tsunami-resettlement colony in Chennai, to supplying hand sanitizers at the SSLC exam centres in Karnataka, Cognizant employees have also been volunteering virtually by operating helplines to provide meals and medical information to people in need, teaching students online, enabling teachers to conduct digital lessons, and empowering NGOs to use digital technologies to make their social work more effective and efficient.

“Our association with Cognizant as the primary executing NGO partner has helped us reach out to a large number of beneficiaries through 88 requesting organisations in Chennai, Bangalore, Hyderabad, Kolkata, Kochi, Coimbatore, Mysore, Mangalore, Noida, Mumbai and Pune,” said Priyesh Shah, National President of Round Table India and Managing Trustee of Round Table India Trust. “In working with Cognizant to support people impacted by the pandemic and lockdown, we have also been able to create employment opportunities for small and mid-scale vendors, personnel involved in the packaging, loading and unloading of relief material, transporters and truck drivers, and cooperatives involved in preparing grocery kits.”