02ForIndia Initiative by Ola Foundation Enters Hyderabad

Hyderabad: Ola Foundation, the philanthropic arm of Ola, has made its 02ForIndia initiative available in Hyderabad to provide free and easy access to oxygen concentrators for home isolation patients during this ongoing wave of COVID-19 infections.

The O2forIndia initiative received the support of the Telangana government on the occasion of Telangana  Formation Day, in the presence of Shri Jayesh Ranjan, Principal Secretary, Industries & Commerce, and IT.

The whole experience is set up to be seamless through the Ola app and is completely free, including the doorstep delivery and pick-up. An initial lot 500 concentrators have been made available and this will be scaled up as per need, with about 10,000 concentrators available across the country. Ola Foundation has partnered with GiveIndia for the O2forIndia initiative. GiveIndia exists to alleviate poverty by enabling the world to give. Established in 2000, it is India’s most trusted giving platform.

Under this initiative, caregivers and home-isolation patients can now place requests for oxygen concentrators through the Ola app itself by providing a few basic details. After submitting the necessary details, Ola will arrange for free home-delivery of the oxygen concentrator by specially trained personnel through Ola cabs.Ola will arrange for the oxygen concentrator to be picked up and thereafter to be sterilised and ready for use by the next Patient.

Shri Jayesh Ranjan, Principal Secretary, Industries & Commerce, and IT, said, “ Oxygen concentrators have been found to be very effective for both patients who are suffering from mild to moderate symptoms, and also for patients who have come back to their homes after a spell of hospitalisation as a part of their post-Covid recovery. However, the entire process of purchasing a concentrator and owning one is a very cumbersome process, and typically individuals find it very difficult to access one. What Ola, therefore, is doing is something very valuable. I do hope that needy people in Hyderabad make use of this facility and get aided in their quick recovery. The state would also augment this effort with additional 02 concentrators to ensure no needy person is deprived of the same.”

Mr Sujai Karampuri, Director Electronics & EV added “Telangana has been putting up a brave fight against Covid. We can see that Political Leaders, Government officers, NGO’s and independent volunteers have been putting up all efforts to mobilise resources for the needy. OLA coming up with this timely initiative will add to the ammunition in our fight against Covid -19.

The COO of OLA Mr. Gaurav Porwal over web conference shared the model of working with the 
Government of Telangana officials and emphasized on the idea of making O2 concentrators reachable to everyone in less than 3-4 hours of time. 5 Hubs have been created by OLA for storing and maintenance operations like sterilization and deployment would happen based once basic documents are uploaded by those needing the service on the OLA app.

Ola National Sales head Sumit Anand said, “There is an acute need for improved access to life saving equipment like oxygen concentrators as many are struggling to manage COVID 19 patients at home. The whole process of accessing an 02 Concentrator has been made Seamless and easy “. Ola stands committed to contributing to community efforts during this pandemic which requires all of us to join hands and fight this together.