Piaggio donates over 11,000 ration kits to auto driver families in India

Piaggio Vehicles, a 100 percent subsidiary of the Italian Piaggio Group has announced that they have distributed more than 11,000 ration kits, each of which could feed a family for two months.

The company says the increasing number of Covid-19 cases has resulted in an extension of nation-wide locked down with a few relaxations in certain areas. This protracted lockdown has terribly affected the auto-rickshaw (three-wheeler) drivers, a section of the society that is very dependent on daily earnings affecting the livelihood of many families.

Piaggio says it arranged free supplies of these ration kits ensuring basic food security for a minimum of two months to the most needy of the three-wheeler driver families. These ration kits have dry ration as well as face masks, soaps and sanitizers as per the average requirement of a family of four. The distribution was done today on May 28, across India with the support of PVPL’s nationwide dealership network.  

Diego Graffi, MD and CEO, Piaggio Vehicles said, “In these exceptionally difficult times we stand with the auto driver and transport worker community to provide our relentless support. They are facing difficulties in this unprecedented Covid-19 situation. We had earlier announced an extension of the warranty for all our three-wheeler customers and have now decided to support the most needy households of this community by taking care of their basic food security for a period of two months. Our dealers are also partnering with us and supporting us voluntarily in this distribution to reach out to the underprivileged drivers and their families. This is an unparalleled crisis that needs cooperation and support from all of us as a community and as a socially responsible organisation we are going to keep doing the best we can do for the driver community”.

Piaggio says in the past it had also responded immediately and provided dry ration kits to migrant labourers from Pune and Baramati. The company says it has also supported with sanitisation infrastructure being provided to Pune’s Government Hospital and has also helped Baramati local authorities in setting up an isolation centre for Covid-19 patients at the Baramati government hospital. In the month of April, the company has also announced the extension of warranty and free service period for small commercial vehicles by two months.