Few people are aware of all the work that has been done to rehabilitate the victims and dependants of the dastardly attack on Bombay by ten armed terrorists from across the border from November 26, 2008.
The following heart-warming account of some of the initiatives taken by Mr. Ratan Tata, the head of the Tata Group of Industries and Honorary Rotarian of the Rotary Club of Bombay, appeared in the December, 2009, edition of Fed Newsletter published by the Federation of Parsi Zoroastrian Anjumans of India. It has been sent for publication in The Gateway by Burjor Poonawala.
In November 26, 2008, the world saw one of the most inhuman terror attacks on the Taj, Mumbai. Given below is an account of the humane gesture of the Tatas:
All categories of employees, including those who had completed just one day as casuals, were treated as being on duty during the time the hotel was closed;
Relief and assistance was extended to all those who died at the CST railway station surroundings, including the “pav-bhaji” vendor and the pan-shop owners;
During the time the hotel was closed, the salaries were sent by money order;
A psychiatric cell was established in collaboration with the Tata Institute of Social Sciences to counsel those who needed such help;
The thoughts and anxieties in the minds of the people were constantly tracked and psychological help provided where needed;
Employee outreach centres were opened where all help, food, water, sanitation, first aid and counselling was provided; 1,600 employees were covered by this facility;
Every employee was assigned to one mentor and it was that person’s responsibility to act as a “single window” clearance for any help that the person required’
Mr. Ratan Tata personally visited the families of all the 80 employees who were affected in any manner, whether through death or injury;
The dependants of employees were flown to Mumbai from wherever they lived and taken care of in terms of ensuring mental assurance and peace. They were accommodated for three weeks in Hotel President;
Mr. Tata himself asked the families and dependants whether there was anything further that he could do for them;
A new trust was created by the Tatas in a record time of 20 days for the relief of employees. But not only his employees, even others, such as railways and police employees and pedestrians who had nothing to do with the Tatas, were offered compensation. Each one of them was provided a subsistence allowance of Rs. 10,000 per month for six months;
The four-year-old granddaughter of a vendor had four bullets lodged in her body but only one could be removed in the government hospital. She was shifted to Bombay hospital and the Tatas spent lakhs of rupees on her full recovery;
New handcarts were provided to several vendors who had lost their carts;
The Tatas have taken responsibility for the full education of 46 children of the victims of terror.
This was the most trying periods in the life of the organisation.
Senior managers, including Mr. Ratan Tata, went from one funeral to another over the worst three days of the city’s life.
The settlement given to every deceased member ranged from Rs. 36 lakhs to Rs. 85 lakhs in addition to the following benefits:
Full last salary for life for the family and dependants of a deceased person;
Complete responsibility for the education of children and dependants anywhere in the world;
Full medical facility for the whole family and dependants for rest of their life;
All loans and advances waived of – irrespective of the amount involved; 
Counsellor for life for each person.
Mr. Tata’s approach was simply this: The organisation would spend several hundred crores of rupees on rebuilding the property – why not spend equally on the employees who gave their lives and suffered?