Noida skips foundation day celebrations, employees donate Rs 86 lakh to fight Covid-19

Permanent employees of the Noida authority on Friday took an inspiring step and donated a total of ₹75 lakh towards the fight against Sars-Cov-2.

Noida observed its 44th foundation day without fanfare on Friday, with a focus on fighting the outbreak of the coronavirus (Covid-19) disease. Since its inception, the Noida authority and the Uttar Pradesh government have celebrated the foundation day of this industrial town with cultural events every year, but this year the celebrations were shelved as the focus is to take effective measures to contain the spread of Covid-19.

Noida observed its 44th foundation day without fanfare on Friday (PTI Photo)

“We congratulate residents on the occasion of 44 years of establishment of Noida. The Noida authority, which is associated with the establishment of the city, is committed to make Noida a smart city. During this Covid-19 pandemic, we are taking multiple effective steps to ensure food distribution to the needy,” said Ritu Maheshwari, chief executive officer of the Noida authority.

Permanent employees of the Noida authority on Friday took an inspiring step and donated a total of ₹75 lakh towards the fight against Sars-Cov-2.

The authority gives a certain amount as reward to their employees annually on the foundation day of the city.

“On this foundation day, we decided to donate 50% of this amount (₹75 lakh) towards operations to fight Covid-19,” said Rajkumar Singh, president of NEA.

They donated a total of ₹40 lakh to the chief minister’s Covid Care fund and ₹35 lakh for food for the needy.’

“Permanent employees donated a total of ₹35 lakh for arrangements of food to be distributed among daily wage workers, homeless, dependent and other needy people in the city. The money has been given for the Meals on Wheels project, under which 1,50,000 food packets will be distributed daily to the needy till May 3, beginning Friday,” said Ashok Sharma, vice-president of Noida employees association (NEA), a registered organization for employees.

The contractual staff donated a total of ₹11 lakh to the chief minister’s Covid Care fund.

The authority has deployed three low-floor CNG buses to transport 15,000 food packets daily to needy in the city till May 3, 2020.

According to officials, the authority, since March 23, has been distributing at least 85,000 food packets daily. Now, from Friday, the authority will distribute 1,00,000 food packets.

“We needed to increase the number of food packets. And the contribution of NEA has helped us in arranging 1 lakh food packets to be distributed daily till May 3,” said Maheshwari.

The authority’s employees and the Noida Metro Rail Corporation had earlier donated a total of ₹51 lakh in the chief minister’s Covid Care fund.