ACT Grants, a not–for-profit coalition of start-ups & entrepreneurs, has unveiled an initiative called ‘Jaanch Bachaye Jaan’ with the support of popular celebrities such as Hrithik Roshan, Kunal Kapoor, Rahul Dravid and Saif Ali Khan to educate people about the importance of Covid-19 testing. The celebrities have championed the cause to de-stigmatize Covid-19 testing by addressing millions of their followers through their social media handles.
At a time when the entire world is grappling with the impact of Covid-19, ‘Jaanch Bachaye Jaan’ aims to spread awareness about the importance of testing among people. The initiative is a step towards assisting the government in its efforts to encourage people to get tested in order to prevent the spread of the virus and help flatten the Covid-19 spread curve.
Sudipto Sannigrahi, spokesperson from ACT Grants, said, “Our objective behind this initiative is to encourage people to consult doctors when they notice the symptoms and get tested for Covid-19 based on doctors’ advice. Social responsibility is the need of the hour and we aim to reach as many people as possible and help them adopt safe habits during this pandemic.”
“These are challenging times for us as a society and we need the support of people to reduce the impact of Covid-19. This initiative is an appeal to all the people in the country to stand united and encourage the community to get tested for Covid-19”, said Ashish Agarwal, spokesperson from ACT Grants.
Commenting on the initiative, Hrithik Roshan said, “To win a battle you need to know your enemy first. Testing is the first step we can take as responsible Indians in our fight against this pandemic. Let’s join the movement and support our frontline workers by voluntarily getting tested and help flatten the curve.”
“We are living in very challenging times, and we rely on each other now more than ever. We need to support each other, and remove the stigma from COVID19 testing. It is our responsibility to get tested. Through this initiative, I urge every Indian to spread awareness about COVID 19 testing, and get tested if you have symptoms. Get tested to protect yourself, your family, and all of us too” said Saif Ali Khan.
With an objective to maximise the reach of the initiative, the campaigns will go live on social media as well as television channels since both these platforms have witnessed an exponential spike in viewership in the last few months.
Action Covid-19 Team or ACT Grants is a not-for-profit initiative set up by top VC firms such Sequoia India, Matrix Partners, SAIF Partners, Lightspeed Ventures, Kalaari Capital, Accel, Chiratae Ventures, Omidyar Network and Nexus Partners along with several start up founders and leaders in the entrepreneurial space such as Mukesh Bansal, Co-Founder of Cure.fit, and Abhiraj Bhal, Co-Founder of Urban Company (formerly called UrbanClap) among others in order to support the fight against Covid-19 by leveraging technology for scalable impact. The grant will also be supported by partner NGOs, industry veterans and the government to scale up solutions and accelerate the fight against Covid-19.
