Amritanandamayi donates Rs 13 crore towards COVID-19 fight

Coimbatore (TN), Apr 13 (): The Mata AmritanandamayiMath on Monday announced a donation of Rs l3 crore to helpcombat and contain COVID-19 as well as to provide relief tothose physically, mentally and economically affected by thevirus.

It would also provide free care to COVID-19 patients atthe Amrita Institute of Medical Sciences (Amrita Hospital)in Kochi. According to a press release, Rs 10 crore would go to theCentral government's PM CARES Fund, and Rs three crore to theKerala government's Chief Minister's Distress Relief Fund.

"Seeing the entire world hurt (by coronavirus) andcrying in pain, my heart is aching," Mata Amirthnanda Mayi,popularly called as Amma, was quoted as saying in therelease.

"Let us all pray for the souls who have succumbed tothis pandemic for the mental peace of their families andfriends, for the peace of the world, and for God's grace,"she said.

At her request Amrita University and Amrita Hospitalhave set up a mental health hotline (0476 280 5050), wherepeople who are feeling stressed, anxious or depressed due tothe pandemic and its ramifications can call to get freesupport.

Through Amrita Vishwa Vidyapeetham (Amrita University),the Math also has an interdisciplinary team researching waysto produce low-cost scalable medical masks, gowns and face-protection visors, as well as ventilators, rapid-setupisolation wards, units for sterilising medical waste, andmeans for remote monitoring of quarantined patients.

The team includes more than 60 faculty from the fieldsof medicine, nanoscience, AI, big data, sensor-manufacturingand material sciences, the release said. NVMNVG NVG