All arms of the Government are proactively working to tackle the challenges posed by Covid pandemic. Public Sector Undertakings (PSUs) under the Union Ministry of Mines are also leading from the front and contributing in the fight against coronavirus. From contributing financially towards establishing special dedicated COVID facilities to upgrading their own health infrastructure & conducting mass vaccination, Mines PSUs are continuously working to help fight the second wave of Covid-19.

National Aluminum Company Limited (NALCO) has made a contribution of Rs.1.16 crore to Saheed Laxman Naik Hospital, Koraput Odisha for exclusive Covid Care Centre. It has also contributed towards a Covid Care Centre at ESI HOSPITAL, Banarpal in Angul District of Odisha incurring a monthly expenditure of about Rs. 30 lakhs.

NALCO is also undertaking massive sanitization drives carried out at its units and residential & nearby areas. It has donated a refrigerated truck having a capacity of 25,70,000 Covid vaccine (in doses) to the state immunization cell for smooth transportation of COVID-19 vaccines across Odisha.

It has supported the State Health Department by Rs.1.16 crore for procurement of two Ventilator Ambulances. It has also provided financial support to Bhubaneswar Municipality Corporation (BMC) Hospital for purchase of Digital X-ray machines. NALCO is continuously depicting COVID appropriate behavior on its website, social media platforms, digital displays, banners and hoardings. It has also distributed dry rations and other materials for the benefit of people like migrant workers, daily earners etc.

Hindustan Copper Limited (HCL) unit hospitals are equipped with multi-bedded COVID Centres with oxygen support and medicines (curative, emergency and preventive). Malanjkhand Copper Project (MCP), HCL’s plant in Madhya Pradesh, has provided 10 Oxygen Concentrators to the COVID Centre at Kendatola to help the State Administration combat the shortage of Oxygen and record surge of cases.

Khetri Copper Complex, HCL’s Unit in Rajasthan, has donated oxygen-filled cylinders with flow meter, tubes and masks along with pulse oximeters to the Block Chief Medical Officer of the State Govt. recently. A 30-bedded COVID Care Centre with oxygen support has been established for employees and the local population at Indian Copper Complex, HCL’s Unit in Ghatsila, Jharkhand.

Vaccination drives are organized on a regular basis in HCL Units in collaboration with the State Administration.

HCL extends the knowledge base among individuals about COVID-19 prevention. Banners are displayed and pamphlets/advisories/circulars are distributed on a regular basis at work locations and market areas in HCL Units to make the employees, contract workers, township residents and the local communities aware of COVID-19 appropriate behavior. Thermal Screening, hand sanitization and wearing of face mask is mandatory for entering HCL workplaces including plants, mines and offices. Norm of social distance of six feet (Do Gaj Ki Doori) is being strictly maintained and monitored. Sanitization with Sodium Hypochlorite is carried out on a regular basis in HCL plants, offices and residential areas.

Mineral Exploration Corporation Limited (MECL), under its CSR program, has given financial contribution to the Dharwad district (Karnataka) for the acquisition of Oxygen concentrators. It has also displayed banners & flexes on its office premises and nearby localities. COVID-19 appropriate behavior and vaccination banners, standees & flexes have been put on the Nagpur, Ajni & Itwari Railway stations and IIM, Nagpur.

Notably, the Mines PSUs were also at the forefront in their respective operational areas in the fight against COVID-19 during the first wave. NALCO had made a total contribution of Rs. 10.2 crore towards COVID-19 relief fund which includes Rs.5 crore & one-day salary of employees amounting to Rs.2.6 crore to PM CARES Fund and one-day salary of employees amounting to Rs.2.6 crore to CM’s Relief Fund, Odisha. Company had also funded a 200 bedded exclusive COVID-19 hospital at Nabarangpur for the patients of undivided Koraput district, Odisha. It had also set up two exclusive COVID Care Centres, one each at M&R Complex, Damanjodi and S&P Complex, Angul, Odisha.

MECL employees had contributed their one-day salary to the PM National Relief fund and Rs. 2.0 Crores to the PM CARES fund for COVID-19. MECL had handed over an ambulance to the District Collectorate, Ranchi. In alliance with various institutions and dignitaries, it had distributed food packets to the marginalized community in and around Nagpur city. The company had procured 5000 liters of sanitizers & 2000 masks from Ordnance Factory Board, Bhandara and distributed them to the healthcare professionals through Collector & District Administration, Nagpur and to the mining workers through MOIL Ltd., Nagpur. The PSU had also donated an ambulance to the District Health Officer of Nagpur District for use at the Public Health Centre, Dhanla, Nagpur district.

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MC/KP/AK