Statement by Dr Ajay Mathur, Director General, TERI on the COVID 19 pandemic and the challenges beyond it
"The Covid 19 pandemic and the huge disruption it has caused has serious repercussions for people’s health and economic activity. It is also going to have a long-term impact on all aspects of our lives. Not only is this pandemic costing lives, but its impact on economies and living standards will likely outlive the health emergency phase. It is, therefore, essential that we shorten the time to recover and support the government and all stakeholders in every way we can.
The crisis has highlighted the need for us to work together and TERI is committed to a fast, flexible response based on the needs of our partners, supporters, staff and the people. We have taken measures to safeguard the health and safety of the organisation and are following the strategic preparedness and response plan issued by the World Health Organisation along with the operational planning guidelines to support country preparedness and response. We have instituted Work From Home options and it will be continued till the time it is needed. During this time, flexible arrangements have been worked out among the staff and their respective managers. Support operations have been streamlined and we are actively promoting online video and audio interactions amongst the staff and also our partners.
When we come out of this phase, we will be in a newer world, and yet in several ways the challenges, especially those posed by climate change, will remain. We will continue our efforts to combat this inescapable challenge and work together in building a secure and sustainable energy future. There will be tremendous amount of learnings from this time and we will use them to support and add value to our stakeholders, in addition to helping vulnerable groups in recovering their livelihoods quickly.
We are actively looking at ways and means by which clean strategies are engaged by the government, industry or any relevant stakeholder in mitigating the impact of the crisis and will be keen to hear from you on how we might support you better, during this time of change."