METRO Cash & Carry, India’s leading wholesaler and food specialist, will be covering the COVID- 19 vaccination cost for its entire workforce in India. Supporting Government of India’s COVID-19 vaccination drive, the company has decided to cover the COVID-19 inoculation cost of over 14000 direct and indirect employees, including contractual staff, security personnel, porters, loaders, working across its 28 stores in India.
As part of the ongoing vaccination drive, METRO has facilitated voluntary vaccination of employees above the age of 45 with specified comorbidities as laid out by Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare. The company is partnering with industry bodies and other authorities to conduct the immunization program. The benefit will be extended to the rest of the employees as and when the government rolls out the next phase of the vaccination drive. The current initiative is in addition to the regular health insurance cover that is provided by the company to all its employees.
Speaking about the initiative, Arvind Mediratta, MD & CEO, METRO Cash& Carry India said, ‘At METRO, we prioritize the health, safety and well- being of our entire employee ecosystem. During the pandemic, our employees have braved odds and shown tremendous courage to report to work, and have been working diligently to ensure uninterrupted supplies to all our business customers, especially the kiranas. Covering their vaccination cost is a small way to express our gratitude to them for their resilience and selfless service throughout this phase. While the choice of opting for the vaccination is voluntary as per employees’ discretion, currently it is one of the effective means to fight the pandemic, and we are encouraging employees to opt for it.
He further added, ‘The pandemic has also reiterated the true value of the presence of small shops and kiranas in our neighborhood. It is important that government of India acknowledges the contribution of the kirana community along with the retail employees during the pandemic; and recognize them as ‘frontline workers’, as they have been serving the nation tirelessly despite being vulnerable to the risk of infection. They should be prioritized in the ongoing vaccination drive.”
