Two officials aware of the development said the foundation will soon set up primary health clinics in some of India’s most backward cities, followed by multi-specialty hospitals and a medical university.
This decision to make healthcare its second focus area is the biggest change in the history of the Foundation, which was established in 2001.
“We have done significant work on health during the pandemic, and this will be a key area for us to move forward,” Anurag Behar, chief executive officer of the Azim Premji Foundation, said in an emailed response. To improve the health of underserved communities in geographic areas. Health is a public good and therefore, strengthening public health systems will be central to our approach. Moreover, wherever there are shortcomings, we will address both by setting up and working with our institutions. with civil society organizations. Health education and research will also emerge as important areas of work.”
The Foundation is the fifth largest private endowment in the world with a corpus of $38 billion.
“Primary health centers will be the starting point,” said one of the two officials, speaking on condition of anonymity. A medical university.”
“In five years, (the Foundation’s) spending on healthcare will be no less than on education. The foundation is not limited by money,” the executive said.
For now, the healthcare work is looked after by Anand Swaminathan and handled by the Azim Premji Foundation for Development (APFD), the operating arm of the Azim Premji Foundation and Azim Premji University.
The Azim Premji Trust is the entity that holds the endowment assets, including 67% of Wipro’s shares and the ownership of Premji’s family office, Premji Invest.
Two of the beneficiaries of the Azim Premji Trust are the grant-giving arm Azim Premji Philanthropic Initiatives and APFD.
Both the officials said that the APF’s decision to enter the health service was taken after several discussions over a period of close to 18 months. Television visuals of stranded migrants walking hundreds of miles back home after the first lockdown in the summer of 2020 decided to spend Behar with Dilip Ranjekar 1,100 crore in the fight against the pandemic. Wipro chairman Rishad Premji then got the IT giant to convert one of its IT facilities in Pune into a 450-bed intermediate care Covid-19 hospital to manage it before giving it to the state government.
But the pandemic exposed gaps in healthcare, forcing Premji to discuss the foundation’s entry into the sector with half a dozen of his trusted lieutenants.
Finally, late last year, the APFD agreed to make changes to its constitution.
“It is proposed to amend the objects of the memorandum of association of the company to include objects incidental or ancillary to the work and realization of education, healthcare and other humanitarian relief activities at all levels. Read a filing made by APFD to the ministry.
“The Foundation’s vision is to contribute towards a just, equitable, humane and sustainable society,” Behr said. The most vulnerable communities, including marginal farmers, tribals, people with disabilities, children in need of care, gender justice issues, and urban deprivation, to name a few. We do this through our operations, partners and programs at our university.
But the biggest adversary for Premji is his age. At 77 years old, it won’t be easy to oversee the Foundation making a meaningful impact in both education and healthcare.
Last week, Premji made a rare public appearance at an event to celebrate the 60th anniversary of the Karnataka Employers’ Association at a five-star hotel in the city’s central business district. As he took the stage, Premji was visibly in discomfort from a stiff back and neck – he is recovering from a three-year-old injury he suffered when he fell into a ditch during a walk in the woods. Yercaud, a hill station in Tamil Nadu.
However, Premji is very much loved and revered by the people. At the end of the two-and-a-half-hour event, as Premji slowly and carefully walked out of the hall – without a dime or security personnel – he was approached by several people for selfies. When a young girl came for a picture, Premji’s face lit up involuntarily, and he posed with a smile.
Azim Premji Foundation wants to provide better healthcare and education to these millions of youth of the country.
Premji, who has donated nearly 92% of his wealth to a foundation of the same name, declined to speak.
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