PM-CARES Fund: PM Modi donated Rs 2.25 lakh from own pocket

Prime Minister Narendra Modi donated Rs 2.25 lakh from his own pocket as the "initial" corpus to the PM CARES Fund. The prime minister made the donation right after the fund was set up.

Short for Prime Minister's Citizen Assistance and Relief in Emergency Situations Fund, the amount collected under it is utilised in the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic.

The revelation comes a day after the government made public the first PM-CARES Fund audio report, wherein the Centre also disclosed that it received Rs 3,076 crore within five days of setting up the fund on March 27. However, the (Rs 3,076 crore) amount was apart from PM Modi's donation towards the initial corpus.

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Meanwhile, several leaders from the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), comprising Union ministers Smriti Irani, and Piyush Goyal, took to Twitter to laud the prime minister for making the contribution.

Albeit, this is not the first time PM Modi has made a donation from his personal wealth towards a public initiative.

PM Modi has also donated towards the welfare of underprivileged people in the country.

In 2019, he donated Rs 21 lakh from his personal savings to a fund designated for the welfare of sanitation workers of Kumbh Mela.

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PM Modi also immediately allocated the entire amount, Rs 1.3 crore, of the Seoul Peace Prize he received in South Korea for the Namami Gange mission to help clean river Ganga.

He had recently raised Rs 3.40 crore by auctioning his mementos, which he donated to the national Clean Ganga mission.

PM Modi also gave away an additional Rs 8.35 crore that was raised by auctioning gifts he received till 2015 towards the Namami Gange mission.

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