Did Modi make any donations to PM CARES Fund?

Amidst opposition protest over the legal validity of PM CARES Fund, officials in the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) have said that PM himself donated Rs 2.25 lakh from his own pocket as the “initial corpus” to the Fund, just after it was set up. The Prime Minister’s Citizen Assistance and Relief in Emergency Situations Fund (PM CARES) is deployed in the fight against the coronavirus pandemic.

“PM Modi donated Rs 2.25 lakh towards the initial corpus of PM CARES Fund after it was set up,” a PMO official said, asking not to be named.

The official further said, “PM Modi has a long legacy of contributing to public causes ranging from girl child education to work on cleaning the Ganga to welfare of the underprivileged. These donations have now exceeded Rs 103 crore.”

The opposition parties, led by Congress, have raised concerns over corporate social responsibility benefits denied to contributions to state disaster relief funds. The Congress has gone to the extent of questioning the legal validity of PM CARES Fund when the Prime Minister’s National Relief Fund (PMNRF) is in existence.

The Union government has justified the need for the PM CARES Fund, saying it is a voluntary fund while budgetary allocations take care of other disaster response funds.

Related news: BJP opposes Parliament panel review of PM-Cares fund, COVID response

The list of personal donations made by PM Modi since his stint as Gujarat chief minister rather runs long.

Some of the prominent donations are:

1. Rs 21 lakh to a corpus fund for the welfare of sanitation workers at the Kumbh Mela held in Uttar Pradesh’s Prayagraj.
2. Prize money of Rs 1.3 crore after winning Seoul Peace Prize in South Korea donated for cleaning the Ganga.
3. Rs 3.40 crore fetched in an auction of his mementoes given to river-cleaning mission
4. Rs 8.35 crore raised in an auction of gifts PM Modi had received in 2015 also went to the Namame Ganga Mission.
5. On completing his tenure as the Chief Minister of Gujarat, he had donated Rs 21 lakh from his own savings for educating daughters of Gujarat government staff.
6. Raised Rs 89.96 crore by auctioning all the gifts he received while he was chief minister and donated this to the Kanya Kelavani Fund, which helps girl children for their education.

The PM CARES Fund is exempted under the Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Act. Besides, the Fund cannot be audited by the Comptroller and Auditor General of India.

Related news: RTI exposes gap in pricing of ventilators under PM Cares Fund