$2 million for COVID-19 relief from IIT-Madras alumni

Medical supplies and equipment handed over to Corpn.

Bhaskar Ramamurthi, IIT Madras director, handing over oxygen concentrators to Corporation Commissioner Gagandeep Singh Bedi recently.

The alumni of the Indian Institute of Technology Madras have donated over $2 million toward COVID-19 relief efforts in the country.

The Office of Alumni and Corporate Relations at the institute along with the IIT Madras Alumni Association of North America and IIT Madras Foundation in the United States of America coordinated the effort.

Anand Rajaraman, alumnus and partner at Rocketship.vc, a silicon-valley based venture capital firm, said the alumni network had mobilised to help the State with medical supplies and equipment.

Institute director Bhaskar Ramamurthi handed over 200 oxygen concentrators, with a capacity of 10 litre each, to Corporation Commissioner Gagandeep Singh Bedi.

Jane Prasad, registrar, handed over 74 biPAP units to the civic body. The alumni have also donated 200 oxygen concentrators, with a capacity of five litre each, to the Telangana government.

Kamal Duggirala, chairman of the IIT Madras Foundation-US, said many people helped source the equipment, raise funds and ensure delivery.

The institute has also formed a COVID-19 Relief Fund to support students and faculty distressed during the pandemic. In Financial Year 2021, it raised ₹96 lakh to cater to the COVID-19 relief requirements of students and employees. The institute has proposed to upgrade the medical infrastructure within the campus.

It has developed a portable hospital unit called Medicab that can be installed anywhere within a few hours. It is a decentralised approach to detect, screen, identify, isolate and treat COVID-19 patients in their local communities through portable micro-structures. Medicab has been deployed in several places, including Wayanad and Kerala.