KPMG offers pro-bono support to Kerala flood-relief efforts
In a gesture of compassion, global professional services firm KPMG has offered its services to the Kerala government to help rebuild the state, which was recently hit by the worst flood in decades. The firm has also deployed Rs.2 crore towards the relief fund, contributed by KPMG employees.
Having suffered what is being described as the worst flood in a century, the Indian state of Kerala is now looking to gradually rebuild. Alongside the immeasurable loss of nearly 500 lives, the Chief Minister of the state Pinarayi Vijayan has valued the economic loss as more than Kerala’s annual economic output.
In numerical terms, some estimates place the damage at around Rs.20,000 crore, which is more than 20 times the amount of relief that the state has received so far through the Chief Minister’s Distress Relief Fund (CMDRF) – currently at around Rs.730 crore. Nevertheless, every bit counts, and the state will be grateful for an additional Rs.2 crore that KPMG employees have contributed to the cause.
The amount was officially presented by Arun M Kumar, Chairman & CEO of KPMG India, alongside the announcement that the Big Four professional services firm would contribute its services as project consultant partner for the rebuilding efforts. The services will be provided free of cost.
Specifically, KPMG will leverage its expertise of market trends, and use the latest in technology and sustainability to help reconstruct the state’s infrastructure as well as its broader economic framework all the way down to individual livelihoods. 100 KPMG employees have also volunteered to provide first hand assistance in the areas affected, while others will help the government with relevant activities.
Efforts will include the mobilisation of funds initially, the targeted sources for which are primarily foreign countries that have a large Kerala-origin population. To this end, delegations of officials will be sent to the UAE, Oman, Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Kuwait, Singapore, Malaysia, and a number of other countries.
Officials abroad will organise fund raising campaigns in key cities, and similar campaigns will be organised in schools and colleges across Kerala – the date for which has been set at the 11th of September.
Floods have been a consistent cause of grief at the southern tip of India in recent years, bringing to fore not only the physical unpreparedness for such disasters in the region, but also financial instability. In 2015 and 2016, for instance, the neighbouring state of Chennai was hit with a massive flood, which cost the state approximately $3 billion in economic value. Only 10% of these losses were covered by insurance.
