Legendary singer Lata Mangeshkar, actors Priyanka Chopra, Alia Bhatt, Vicky Kaushal, among others on Tuesday pledged money to various relief funds aimed at combating the coronavirus pandemic in the country.
Whether in cash or kind, more and more personalities from the Indian entertainment industry are coming forward to offer support during the COVID-19 outbreak.
Mangeshkar announced on Twitter that she was donating Rs 25 lakh to the Chief Minister’s Assistance Fund as part of her “duty to help your government during this difficult time”. “I have a humble request to all that we should help the government as much as possible in the fight against the government,” the veteran singer wrote.
Priyanka Chopra, along with popstar husband Nick Jonas, donated an undisclosed amount to 10 charities including Prime Minister’s Citizen Assistance and Relief in Emergency Situations Fund (PM-CARES), UNICEF, Goonj, Doctors Without Borders, No Kid Hungry, and SAG-AFTRA.
Taking to Twitter, the Priyanka said these organisations are doing “amazing work” by helping those impacted by the COVID19 outbreak.
“They are feeding the hungry, supporting doctors and first responders, helping low income and homeless communities, and supporting our colleagues in the entertainment industry,” she tweeted.
Nick said, the idea behind highlighting these organisations was to create awareness. “We are continuing to pray for everyone affected by #Covid19 and hope that everyone is doing their part to help flatten the curve!” Nick stated.
Sara Ali Khan also pledged an undisclosed amount towards the relief work in order to combat COVID-19 spread in the country. “I pledge to donate to the PM CARES Fund and the Chief Minister’s Relief Fund (Maharashtra)… Every contribution counts, and solidarity is our only hope against this pandemic” Sara wrote on her Instagram.
And many others in the industry have stepped forward to pledge donations to various relief funds, including Akshay Kumar, Anushka Sharma, Varun Dhawan, Sonam Kapoor, Rajkummar Rao, Kartik Aaryan, Prabhas, Ram Charan, among others.
According to the Union Home Ministry, the death toll due to COVID-19 in the country had risen to 32 and the number of total positive cases to 1,251 as on Monday 9.30 pm.