PM CARES Fund deploys in the fight against the coronavirus pandemic
New Delhi:
Prime Minister Narendra Modi donated Rs 2.25 lakh out of his own pocket as an “initial corpus” to the PM CARES Fund right after its creation, officials from the Prime Minister’s Office said. Short for the Prime Minister’s Emergency Relief and Citizen Assistance Fund, the money raised under PM CARES is used in the fight against the coronavirus pandemic.
“PM Modi donated Rs 2.25 lakh to the initial corpus of the PM CARES Fund after its creation,” said a PMO official, who asked not to be named.
“Prime Minister Modi has a long legacy of contributing to public causes ranging from girls’ education to work on cleaning the Ganges and welfare of the underprivileged. These donations have now exceeded 103 million rupees,” he said the official.
Congress and other parties have questioned the legal validity of the PM CARES Fund and questioned the need for it, pointing to the similar Prime Minister’s Aid National Fund (PMNRF).
Concerns have been raised about corporate social responsibility benefits being denied contributions to state disaster relief funds. The PM CARES Fund cannot be audited by the Comptroller and Auditor General of India.
The center has defended the PM CARES Fund, saying it is a voluntary fund, while budget allocations take care of other disaster response funds.
Prime Minister Modi last year donated 21 lakh rupees from his personal savings to a corpus fund for the welfare of sanitation workers at the Kumbh Mela that was held in Prayagraj in Uttar Pradesh.
After receiving the Seoul Peace Prize in South Korea, Prime Minister Modi donated all the prize money of Rs 1.3 crore to work on cleaning up the Ganges. He donated another 3.40 million rupees from an auction of his souvenirs to the river clean-up mission, PMO officials said. Rs 8.35 crore raised in an auction of gifts that PM Modi had received in 2015 also went to the Namame Ganga Mission, officials said.
Upon completing his term as Chief Minister of Gujarat, he had donated Rs 21 lakh from his own savings to educate the daughters of Gujarat government personnel. He raised Rs 89.96 crore by auctioning off all the gifts he received while he was Prime Minister and donated them to the Kanya Kelavani Fund, which helps girls in their education.
The PM CARES Fund is exempt under the Foreign Contributions (Regulation) Act and a separate account has been opened to receive foreign donations. This allows the PM CARES Fund to accept donations and contributions from individuals and organizations abroad.
“This is consistent with the Prime Minister’s National Relief Fund (PMNRF). The PMNRF has also received foreign contributions as a public trust since 2011,” the government says on the PM CARES Fund website.
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