Mumbai, Mar 30 (IANS): Tennis star Sania Mirza on Monday said she has been helping raise Rs 1.25 crore in one week which will help close to 1 lakh people in need during the 21-day lockdown to fight the coronavirus pandemic.

"The last week we have tried as a team to provide some help to the people in need..we provided food to thousands of families and raised 1.25 Crore in one week which will help close to 1 Lakh people.its an ongoing effort and we are in this together," Sania said in a tweet.

Sania had stepped forward to raise money to provide food and other basic necessities for the daily wage workers during the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.

Due to the lockdown and curfews, the informal sector has been badly affected and those who depend on daily wages are struggling to provide for their families.

Sania had shared a video last week on her social network supporting the Safa organisation and pledged to donate and asked people to make a contribution for the workers during this tough time.

"In this difficult time that the world is going through, we are privileged to be able to sit at home, in comfort and wait for everything to be ok again... there are thousands of people who aren't that lucky enough and it's our responsibility to take care of them in whatever capacity we can," said Sania.

"Together with Safa and a few other people we hope to help as many families as possible in this difficult time and make a little bit of a difference," she added.