Kolkata: The Tatas have drawn up plans to set up a trust with Rs 500 crore for the financial support of families of the victims of the Air India plane crash on June 12. The plan was mooted at the board meeting of the Tata Sons, and approval of the board sought, when it met for the first time after the accident, media reports have stated. N Chandrasekaran, chairman of Tata Sons, outlined the plan at the meeting.
Significantly, the Tatas had earlier announced a Rs 1 crore compensation to each of the families of victims of the Air India plane crash in which 241 passengers and several people of the ground were killed when the Boeing Dreamliner crashed a few minutes after takes off from Ahmedabad.
Medical care and beyond
The trust will take care of the medical care of the injured and renovation of the medical school, on which the ill-fated plane crashed. The medical school authorities earlier asked the Tatas for help to rebuild the building. Money will also be used for long-term needs of the impacted families. It was also reported that the trusts will benefit both Indians and foreign nationals who were in the flight.
P B Balaji, group CFO of Tata Motors and a veteran in the field of regulatory and financial matters is supposed to lead the initiative. It was also proposed that the trust will not only have officials of Tatas but also from outside to make it free from any bias and ensure optimum fair governance levels.
The trust has to keep in mind not only of financial and legal matters but also cultural contexts since the citizens of a few different countries perished in the accident. Sustained financial support to next of kins of the victims will be provided that will take care of education of kids, healthcare and even daily living expenses.
Significantly, the Tatas had set up a trust to take care of the employees and their families of the Taj Mahal Palace Hotel in Mumbai which bore the brunt of the 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks in 2008.