IHCL extends meal distribution for COVID-19 workers by a month

Indian Hotels Company Ltd. (IHCL) of the Tata Group has announced extension of its free-of-cost TajSats meal distribution programme for COVID-19 frontline workers by another month.

Puneet Chhatwal, MD & CEO, IHCL, said. “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 providing 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 [from May 24]. Our decision was based on popular requests from the medical fraternity and our continuing strong relationship with the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC),” he said

“This effort wouldn’t be possible without the support of the Tata group companies 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,” Mr. Chhatwal said.

The TajSats Meals Programme is supported and funded by IHCL & Taj Public Service Welfare Trust (TPSWT) which was created in 2008 soon after the terrorist attacks on Mumbai to provide relief and support to victims of natural or man-made disasters.

“We understand there is an urgent requirement of safe and nutritious food and, together with TPSWT, we are working with local authorities to provide nutritious meals to those in need across the country,” IHCL said.

IHCL has delivered over 1.65 million meals till date. The TPSWT is distributing nutritious meals to medical staff in key hospitals/COVID-19 centers 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. IHCL has partnered with Chef Sanjeev Kapoor for Mumbai, Bangalore and New Delhi for this initiative.

In Mumbai it is working closely with the BMC to offer over 10,000 meals a day to 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 have been delivered.

It is 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.

As of March 30, 2020, the company started serving meals at Lady Hardinge Medical College in New Delhi, which then expanded to include 7 hospitals in New Delhi. These include 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 Upadyay 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.

Company executives said 11 IHCL hotels across the country are offering rooms to the medical fraternity during these challenging times. These include 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.