New Delhi, Jul 29 (PTI) Apex industry body National Restaurant Association of India on Thursday said it has initiated a drive across India to vaccinate more than 20,000 employees of its member establishments. The association has received significant contributions for the initiative from liquor firms — Beam Suntory India, Diageo India, Pernod Ricard India and United Breweries Ltd towards achieving this objective, NRAI said in a statement. Under the initiative called Santosh & Vyoum Vaccination Drive, NRAI aims to vaccinate more than 20,000 restaurant warriors, it added. “I reckon that getting our employees vaccinated is key to achieving normalisation and therefore, we have launched this initiative. This could not have been possible without the significant contribution of our longstanding Partners – Beam Suntory India, Diageo India, Pernod Ricard India, United Breweries Ltd,” NRAI President Anurag Katriar said. The need of the hour is to vaccinate as many as quickly, he added. NRAI trade partners” contribution will help vaccinate thousands of restaurant staff across its member establishments nationwide, Katriar noted. “Through this initiative, we aim to vaccinate the F&B staff across our restaurant partners and ensure trust and safety amongst our staff and guests. We hope that this contribution will help orchestrate and accelerate the business operations, which have been severely hit due to the pandemic,” Pernod Ricard India COO Rajesh Mishra said. In a similar vein, United Breweries Marketing Head Gurpreet Singh said this is one of the most important steps to enable businesses to get back to regular operations. “As a responsible corporate, we at United Breweries Ltd strive in supporting our partner outlets and restaurants to ensure the health and safety of each of our patrons,” he added. Beam Suntory India MD Neeraj Kumar also said that the F&B community is “our greatest champions and they will always have our support especially in these difficult times”. PTI AKT BAL BAL