Our commitment to India during this humanitarian crisis

As the second wave of the pandemic grips India, the health and well-being of our associates is our absolute top priority. Cognizant owes much of our success to our large presence in India, and we are committed to helping the country and its people overcome this humanitarian crisis. 

We launched Operation C3 – Cognizant Combats COVID-19 – to pull together all of the resources available to us to support our associates in India, their dependents, and their communities.

These efforts will be focused on three primary areas:

1.   Supporting COVID care facilities

2.   Supplementing oxygen supplies to address the acute shortage

3.   Providing access to vaccinations

As time is critical, we are immediately providing $1.5 million (approximately INR 10 crores) through the Cognizant Foundation to operationalize response efforts with our partners across India. We’re also providing an additional $2 million (approximately INR 15 crores) in emergency funding to UNICEF in India to help address acute shortages in life-saving oxygen and deploy medical and testing supplies. 

As part of this initiative, we are helping establish and support COVID Care Facilities across India, including offering our own facilities to be operated as care facilities. We’re supporting the setup of oxygen generation plants in hospitals to help them overcome oxygen shortages. And we’re working to facilitate special centers to make vaccination easier for people with disabilities.

In addition to the above, we have put in place multiple ways to help our Indian associates and dependents access care, including:

• Access to vaccines for all Cognizant associates and their dependents
• Medical support for COVID-19 positive associates and their immediate family members
• Paid leave for COVID care or recovery
• Emergency financial support for junior associates in dire cases to help cover medical expenses

Defeating COVID will take all of us working together, but I’m confident that we will persevere. We are incredibly grateful for all that our associates do every day for our communities, our families, and each other. Please continue to stay safe.