<span style="color: #222222;">In a bid to address the challenges arising due to COVID-19 pandemic, Empowered Group-3 chaired by NITI Aayog CEO Amitabh Kant today reached out to more than one lakh Civil Society Organisations, CSOs to deliberate on coordinated strategies to navigate through the impact of recent surge in COVID cases.</span><br />'' <span style="color: #222222;"> </span><br />'' <span style="color: #222222;">Members of NGOs or CSOs were informed of the recent initiatives taken by the Government like waiver of import duties on oxygen and related equipment, opening of vaccination for 18 plus population, providing free foodgrains for 80 crore people for two months and resolving logistical bottlenecks.</span><br />'' <span style="color: #222222;"> </span><br />'' <span style="color: #222222;">Mr Kant appreciated and thanked the Civil Society Organisations for their efforts in combating COVID-19 in India and requested for continued support and efforts in managing the COVID-19 infections in the second wave.</span><br />'' <span style="color: #222222;"> </span><br />'' <span style="color: #222222;">He stressed upon them to reach out to the people with awareness campaigns which can be downloaded in regional languages and made available from <a href="http://indiafightscovid.com/" target="_blank"><span style="color: #1155cc;">indiafightscovid.com</span></a> to dispel common myths and provide accurate information regarding COVID vaccination.</span><br />'' <span style="color: #222222;"> </span><br />'' <span style="color: #222222;">The Chairman of the Empowered Group sought support of Civil Society Organisations and requested them to complement the efforts of the Government at districts, Panchayats and Resident Welfare Associations in different activities.</span><br />'' <span style="color: #222222;"> </span><br />'' <span style="color: #222222;">Civil Society organizations such as Akshaya Patra, Narayan Seva Sansthan, Indian Cooperative Network for Women, Karuna Trust, Swasth Foundation, Dadi dada Foundation, HelpAge India, Public Health Foundation of India, International Centre for Red Cross, Disha Foundation etc. made several suggestions for addressing these challenges.</span><br />'' <span style="color: #222222;"> </span><br />'' <span style="color: #222222;">The meeting was attended by Principal Scientific Adviser Dr. K Vijayaraghavan, Member National Disaster Management Authority Kamal Kishore and other senior officials from Ministries of External Affairs, Home Affairs, Cabinet Secretariat and Prime Minister's Office.</span><br />''  <br />