Country’s largest lender State Bank of India (SBI) has allocated Rs 71 crore towards the fight in combating COVID-19. A part of this fund will be used in setting up a makeshift 1,000-bed hospital for the treatment of Covid-19 patients in some of the worst-affected states of the country.
In its official communiqué, the public lender said that Rs 71 crore has been allocated to undertake various support initiatives to combat the second wave of COVID-19, SBI said in a release.
Out of Rs 71 crore, Rs 30 crore is assigned for a makeshift hospital while Rs 21 crore will be used for support initiatives namely procurement of life-saving healthcare equipment, oxygen supply to hospitals, Covid-care centres, ambulances, PPE kits, masks as well as food relief efforts.
Moreover, Rs 10 crore will be used to help centre’s effort in genome sequencing, and Rs 10 crore will be earmarked to partner with on-ground NGOs to address the community needs, said the lender.
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The lender said that it will continue to serve citizens via its extensive network of over 22,000 branches.
All the announced facilities would be set up in partnership with government hospitals and municipal corporations of the cities in dire need. SBI is communicating with various designated authorities for exploring partnerships for setting up makeshift hospitals.
Further, SBI has also joined hands with various hospitals for vaccination of its employees and their dependent family members. It will be bearing the cost of inoculation. In addition, the bank has also converted 60 of its training centres into isolation centres for the helping affected employees and their family members.
