Page 21 - Reliance Foundation Annual Report 2020-21

16 Reliance Foundation Annual Report 2020-21 17

Reinforcing community efforts
against the economic fallout of Response COVID-19
COVID-19

Reliance Foundation mentored and worked with 30
Farmer Producer Organisations (FPOs) to help re-establish
market linkages disrupted by the pandemic. This helped
farmers to continue aggregating, transporting and selling
their produce at a fair price. FPOs also helped secure
access to affordable, agricultural inputs like seeds and
fertilisers for farmers. They reached out to producers and
facilitated agricultural operations. They also facilitated
sale of perishable items such as vegetables in the midst
of transportation restrictions and established MSP
procurement centres.

30

Farmer Producer Organisations (FPOs) worked with
Reliance Foundation to help re-establish market
linkages disrupted by the pandemic
Red gram procurement under MSP at Jojna village, Bidar Cluster

Digital tools support rural Reliance capacities adapted to provide crucial COVID-19 support
communities during the
pandemic

Since the lockdown and the pandemic limited
mobility, Reliance Foundation made full use of
digital technology for providing various services.
Apart from information about the safety protocol,
timely and crucial information was also provided
about marketing produce and special schemes
such as Atmanirbhar Bharat Abhiyan, subsidy for
farm machinery and seed, emergency finance
subsidy for registered dairy farmers, makeshift
markets, transportation of agri-produce and
so on. Online conferences were organised for Doorstep delivery of groceries by Reliance Retail Limited (before JioMart was launched) in northern India
farmers, fisherfolk and livestock owners to connect
with agricultural experts, local officials and
policymakers. This virtual support helped address
concerns with timely advice on overcoming Reliance Retail stores began home delivery services for Reliance Jio developed the JioHaptik chatbot to power the
lockdown related challenges. senior citizens and expanded arrangements for order MyGov Corona helpdesk, which addresses queries around
collection from stores in order to minimise risk of exposure the coronavirus outbreak and disseminates verified
for consumers and staff. As many as 736 grocery stores information.
of Reliance Retail maintained a dependable supply of
essentials, including staples, fruits, vegetables, bread and
breakfast cereals. Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic,
Reliance Foundation and the entire Reliance
About 40 crore people and organisations were provided family has been providing support across a
uninterrupted digital connectivity by Reliance Jio. range of emergency needs from prevention,
39+ lakh people Reliance Jio also introduced a range of new digital tools healthcare, emergency food requirements
to aid healthcare-from-home solutions, including a
Reached through health advisories for farmers and symptomchecker to enable users to monitor symptoms at to livelihood support, through a sensitive,
scaled-up, 360-degree response to help
information about relevant government schemes home and prevent unnecessary pressure on the medical push back the pandemic.
and livelihood opportunities disseminated in local system.
languages through mobile phones Pushpa Kohare in Yavatmal uses her phone to interact with Reliance
Foundation Information Services health experts for advice for her
goatery unit’s health