IIM Bengaluru alumni to donate 100,000 vaccines to poor

Bengaluru: Over 1000 alumni of IIMB attended the first ever virtual edition of IIMBueX, a leadership conclave organised by the alumni on Saturday.

IIM Bangalore Alumni Association (IIMBAA) unveiled an innovative fundraising initiative, to vaccinate close to 100,000 people from the underprivileged sections of society. The initiative was launched by Dr. Devi Shetty in the presence of Finance Minister of India, Nirmala Sitharaman and Professor Rishikesha Krishnan, Director IIMB.

Sitharaman said, "This initiative (donate a vaccine) comes at the right time and such an effort from the alumni of IIM Bangalore is emulatable; something that every institution in India can learn from." The Minister also drew attention to the myriad Covid-19 response initiatives that the government of India has been meticulously planning on a war footing, for improvement and sustainability of healthcare infrastructure, not just in the metro cities, but creating a road map to ensure that this reaches every block.

She also added, "we must all join together to deliver a three-pronged approach of 'rebooting, reimagining and reconnecting' India, and that technology will play a bigger role, now more than ever, for us to realise these ambitions across all sectors, be it healthcare, education, agriculture or finance.

Dr. Shetty remarked, "With more than 70% of India's non-formal workforce out of jobs, this initiative from IIMB alumni is the need of the hour and by providing a paid vaccine, we will be able to ensure that a significant number of underprivileged people will get the first dose faster." He also added that this will only bolster the marathon efforts that are already being taken by central and state governments.