Government to wind up 115-year old natural calamity trust IPNCT

NEW DELHI: Government has decided to wind up 115-year-old natural calamity trust IPNCT and transfer the balance corpus fund of Rs 91 lakh to the Prime Minister's Relief Fund.

The Indian People's Natural Calamity Trust (IPNCT) was created by former Ruler of Jaipur in 1900 with an objective to provide relief to the people during famine.

The Trust is being administered under the chairmanship of Agriculture Minister Radha Mohan Singh with 27 nominated members and two officers.

"With the passage of time, the Trust seems to have outlived its utility. With the consent of the representative of the former Ruler of Jaipur and opinion of Ministry of Law & Justice, it has been decided to wind up the Trust," the Agriculture Ministry said in a release.

The ministry has decided to transfer the balance fund of nearly Rs 91 lakh in its corpus to the Prime Minister's Relief Fund for better utilisation of the funds, it said.

Since its last meeting held in August 1995, the Trust has no significant activity except giving donations through PM Relief Fund in case of natural disasters, the statement said.

Now disaster management is being handled by National Disaster Management Authority in Ministry of Home Affairs which has sufficient budget and infrastructure, it added.