Vedanta Launches Phase 2 of ‘Meal for All’ Program to Daily Wage Earners

Vedanta Limited a subsidiary of Vedanta Resources Limited, a global oil & gas and metals company, has launched Phase 2 of its “Meal for All” program to provide meals to daily wage earners across the country during the Covid-19 pandemic.

The program successfully provided more than 11.08 lakh meals to daily wage earners in the first phase. The project also distributed 49,626 dry ration packets to local communities and engaged more than 15,000 women in mask-making activities. The program not only provided aid to the suffering people, but also extended a helping hand to stray animals in the rural and urban areas. More than 12.70 lakh stray animals were fed in Delhi, Mumbai, Jaipur and Pune in the first phase.

Speaking on the initiative, Mr. Anil Agarwal, Chairman - Vedanta Resources, said, “The spread of Covid-19 pandemic has led to the closure of many economic and employable institutions. This has left a huge number of daily wage earners stranded without any scope of income and daily essentials.  Our initiative is an effort to provide them with the basic necessities and ease their pain as much as possible. We aim to reach maximum number of people with this initiative and provide a ray of hope to the daily wage earners and give them strength.”

The Phase-2 of the ‘Meals for all’ program was flagged off by Mr. Gunvant Patel, noted entrepreneur and philanthropist. It will be a week-long initiative with a target of reaching 38,000 daily wage earners and their families across Delhi, Mumbai & Ahmedabad. They are being provided with ration kits consisting of daily essentials such as Rice, Pulses, Refined oil and Spices along with a pair of slippers. The project aims to provide better living conditions to people in the coming days whilst providing a temporary relief.

Complimenting Vedanta on this initiative, Mr. Gunvant Patel said, “The pandemic is truly a test of our resilience and the strength of togetherness, this is the moment where we have to come together to give, share and reach the people in need. Vedanta’s gesture through the program “Meals for all” is an example of humility and how such initiatives are so important during times like these. I am glad to contribute to the program and look forward to maximize our effortsrogram 

Vedanta Limited a subsidiary of Vedanta Resources Limited, a global oil & gas and metals company, has launched Phase 2 of its “Meal for All” program to provide meals to daily wage earners across the country during the Covid-19 pandemic.

The program successfully provided more than 11.08 lakh meals to daily wage earners in the first phase. The project also distributed 49,626 dry ration packets to local communities and engaged more than 15,000 women in mask-making activities. The program not only provided aid to the suffering people, but also extended a helping hand to stray animals in the rural and urban areas. More than 12.70 lakh stray animals were fed in Delhi, Mumbai, Jaipur and Pune in the first phase.

Speaking on the initiative, Mr. Anil Agarwal, Chairman - Vedanta Resources, said, “The spread of Covid-19 pandemic has led to the closure of many economic and employable institutions. This has left a huge number of daily wage earners stranded without any scope of income and daily essentials.  Our initiative is an effort to provide them with the basic necessities and ease their pain as much as possible. We aim to reach maximum number of people with this initiative and provide a ray of hope to the daily wage earners and give them strength.”

The Phase-2 of the ‘Meals for all’ program was flagged off by Mr. Gunvant Patel, noted entrepreneur and philanthropist. It will be a week-long initiative with a target of reaching 38,000 daily wage earners and their families across Delhi, Mumbai & Ahmedabad. They are being provided with ration kits consisting of daily essentials such as Rice, Pulses, Refined oil and Spices along with a pair of slippers. The project aims to provide better living conditions to people in the coming days whilst providing a temporary relief.

Complimenting Vedanta on this initiative, Mr. Gunvant Patel said, “The pandemic is truly a test of our resilience and the strength of togetherness, this is the moment where we have to come together to give, share and reach the people in need. Vedanta’s gesture through the program “Meals for all” is an example of humility and how such initiatives are so important during times like these. I am glad to contribute to the program and look forward to maximize our efforts.

Are salaries at Indian IT MNCs melting?

Software multinationals in India have begun freezing wage increases, slashing salaries and postponing merit-based hikes, a study by Indian consulting firm Zinnov has found.

"Though Bangalore stands highest in its average salary for multinational R&D firms, followed by Pune and Chennai, the economic slump is causing undue pressure on them to retain compensation levels," Zinnov director for advisory services C S Chandramouli, said after the survey was made public.

Hinting that IT salaries in 2009 would see a freeze across the board in a majority of the firms surveyed, Chandramouli said the average increment would be in the 5-12 per cent range.

"Of the 30 representative multinationals surveyed in these three cities (Bangalore, Pune and Chennai), 27 per cent of them said they have frozen salary increases this year, while 42 per cent said they would provide salary increases and 15 per cent have postponed their merit increase cycle to take a call at a later stage if the economic scenario changes," Chandramouli said.

As a preferred destination for IT services and R&D, about 680 multinationals operate in India. Many of them have more than one R&D centre and presence in one or two of the three cities surveyed.

According to Zinnov's annual report on "Compensation and Benefit Study 2009", 12 per cent of the MNCs have announced 5-10 per cent salary cuts either for senior management or across levels.

"The survey highlights that multinationals are also shifting focus to the variable pay component to reward and retain top performers as opposed to fixed pay. Some of them have even restructured their compensation, linking employee rewards to individual and organisational results," the report said.

Referring to the adverse impact of the tough economic conditions on the compensation budgets, Chandramouli said MNCs were attempting to balance their need to retain key talent and address concerns over wage increase.

"Organisations are being proactive in managing people cost as it constitutes about 62 per cent of the total operating cost," he noted.

Highlighting compensation trends across functions like engineering, quality assurance testing and technical architects, the report said senior positions such as engineering manager and director engineering continued to be on a rise, with an average 8 per cent increase.

As India's IT hub, Bangalore, however, continues to dominate the compensation index, especially in software product and R&D. "Bangalore engineers are paid 5 per cent higher than their counterparts in Pune and 8 per cent higher than in Chennai for engineering and quality positions," Zinnov consultant Sahana Shetty said.

However, average salaries of senior positions in the three cities are similar, though average salaries at junior positions are two-three per cent higher in Bangalore. "Employees are not clear if they will be laid off or if the projects they are working on will be de-prioritised. They are also concerned about the financial health of the parent company. Employees are frustrated with cost cuts for what seem like inexpensive benefits (snacks, lunch, office parties, etc)," Shetty added.

Agencies