As the novel coronavirus is set to create ruckus in the Indian states with dramatically rising cases almost every day, Google has come forward to help the country against its war with the pandemic.
As per official reports, the software giant has declared providing funding of Rs 135 crore to organizations helping people with all the medical necessities during these critical times. The funding includes two grants from Google.org, the philanthropic arm of the tech giant, which is nearly about Rs 20 crore.
It has been claimed that the first grant would go to GiveIndia, while the second is for UNICEF, both of which will help the organizations in procuring medical supplies and help the families affected by the pandemic outbreak.
An important thing to note here is that, not only has the company made efforts to help India, but many employees have also donated to the fund.
Reportedly, the funding move by Google comes right after Microsoft’s CEO, Satya Nadella committed support to the Indian nation during the unavoidable health crisis.
According to a Google official, the funding also includes increased Ad Grant support for various public health campaigns, that are aimed at informing and educating people about the COVID-19 situation. Additionally, it has also been mentioned that since the last year, the organization has been helping WHO and MyGov reach audiences with messages focused on how to stay safe and facts about vaccination.
Moreover, with the new funding, the Ad Grants are expected to receive Rs 112 Crore, which will be directed at local health authorities and nonprofit organizations for more language coverage options.
In fact, the funding would also help Google enhance its localization and highlight authoritative information in community applications like Google Search, Google Ads, Google Maps, and Google Ads. This would imply that the content in these applications would be available in vernacular languages with more useful data.
For the record, the software giant, in addition to collaborating with the India ministry, is also working closely with the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.
Source Credit: https://www.indiatoday.in/technology/news/story/google-pledges-rs-135-crore-in-funding-to-help-india-fight-covid-19-1795010-2021-04-26