FinMin officials, banks, FIs contribute Rs 430 crore to PM CARES Fund

The officers and staff of the ministry of finance, including public sector banks and other financial institutions under the ministry, have contributed Rs 430.13 crore to the Prime Minister's Citizen Assistance and Relief in Emergency Situations (PM CARES) Fund.

The contributions include one day’s salary of employees and funds donated as part of the corporate social responsibility (CSR) obligations of some of these institutions, said a release by the ministry on Sunday.

The employees of the Life Insurance Corporation (LIC) topped the list with a contribution of Rs 105 crore followed by Rs 100 crore from State Bank of India employees.


Along with this, the India Infrastructure Finance Company Limited employees contributed Rs 25 crore while the employees of the Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs and the Central Board of Direct Taxes together put in Rs 23 crore.

Employees of the General Insurance Corporation donated Rs 22.81 crore and Bank of Baroda employees gave Rs 20 crore. Punjab National Bank and Canara Bank employees contributed Rs 15 crore each.

The employees of the department of expenditure donated Rs 2 crore while those from the department of economic affairs and department of revenue put in Rs 15 lakh and Rs 90 lakh respectively.

The PM CARES Fund was created on March 28 by Prime Minister Narendra Modi with the primary objective of dealing with any kind of emergency or distress situation as posed by the COVID-19 pandemic, and to provide relief to the affected people.

As of April 4, the fund had received Rs 6,500 crore from a cross-section of citizens and institutions, including Rs 1,500 crore by the Tata Group, Rs 1,000 crore by the Azim Premji Foundation, Rs 500 crore collectively by the Army, Navy and Air Force, defence PSUs and employees of defence ministry.

Donations to the fund have been made eligible for 100% tax deduction under section 80G of the Income Tax Act. Later, the government allowed companies to fulfill their CSR obligations by donating to the fund.

The government has nominated the Indian Overseas Bank to collect donations to the fund, which accepts micro donations as low as Rs 10.