Twitter donates $15 million for COVID-19 relief in India

Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey tweeted that the amount has been donated to three non-governmental organisations Care, Aid India and Sewa International USA

PTI

May 11, 2021 / 07:34 IST

Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey

Microblogging giant Twitter has donated $15 million to help address the COVID-19 crisis in India which is battling the unprecedented second wave of the deadly pandemic.

Twitter CEO Jack Patrick Dorsey on May 10 tweeted that the amount has been donated to three non-governmental organisations Care, Aid India and Sewa International USA. While CARE has been given USD 10 million, Aid India and Sewa International USA have received USD 2.5 million each.

Sewa International is a Hindu faith-based, humanitarian, non-profit service organisation. This grant will support the procurement of lifesaving equipment such as oxygen concentrators, ventilators, BiPAP (Bilevel Positive Airway Pressure) and CPAP (Continuous Positive Airway Pressure) machines as part of Sewa International's Help India Defeat COVID-19' campaign, the San Francisco-based company said in a statement. Equipment will be distributed to government hospitals and COVID-19 care centers and hospitals, it said.

Reacting to the announcement, Sewa International's vice president for Marketing and Fund Development Sandeep Khadkekar thanked Dorsey for his generous donation, saying it is gratifying that Sewa's work has been recognised. "We are a volunteer-driven non-profit organisation, and we believe in serving all, following the sacred Hindu benediction, 'Sarve Bhavantu Sukhinah' -- 'May all be happy'," Khadkekar told PTI.

"Our administrative costs are about five per cent, meaning that every dollar a donor offers, we spend 95 cents of it on the work that it is earmarked for. In these past two weeks, we have seen how overwhelmed India's healthcare system is, and we want to do as much as we can to come to the aid of people who are deeply affected. Twitter's generosity will go a long way in helping us do the work we want to do, and that we need to do," he said. With this, Houston-headquartered Sewa USA has so far raised USD 17.5 million towards its India COVID-19 relief efforts.

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