Ahmedabad Air India crash: Tata Sons and Tata Trusts to contribute ₹500 crore to AI-171 charity set up for victims, kin
Wreckage of Air India's Boeing 787-8 aircraft, which was operating flight AI 171 from Ahmedabad to London, placed under tight security, seen a month after the tragedy, in Ahmedabad | PTI
Tata Sons and Tata Trusts on Friday set up a ₹500 crore public charitable trust dedicated to the Ahmedabad Air India crash victims.
Named after the doomed flight, the Mumbai-registered AI-171 Memorial and Welfare Trust will see Tata Sons and Tata Trusts contributing ₹250 crore each to support the relatives and dependants of the deceased as well as the injured and those directly or collaterally affected by the accident.
The ₹500 crore contribution will include the ex-gratia payment of ₹1 crore for the deceased besides medical treatment of the victims who suffered serious injuries. It will also help rebuild the B.J. Medical College Hostel building and infrastructure which was destroyed after the plane crashed into it.
"The Trust will be funded and will commence its work in all earnestness after necessary registration with the Tax authorities and other operational formalities, currently under way, are completed," read the statement.
Tata Sons stated that the Trust will also provide assistance to first responders, medical and disaster relief professionals, social workers and governmental staff who might have endured trauma and distress in the aftermath of the deadly crash.
S. Padmanabhan, a former Tata veteran and Mr. Sidharth Sharma, Tata Sons' General Counsel have been appointed to the board of trustees while three more officials are set to be appointed to the five-member board.
The Air India flight AI 171, a Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner heading to London's Gatwick on June 12 crashed into a hostel building of the BJ Medical College immediately after takeoff. Only one person aboard the flight survived while 241 others, including passengers, pilots and crew were killed along with 19 people on the ground.
India