PM Modi asks people to contribute to relief fund set up to tackle coronavirus outbreak in India — here’s all you need to know

The novel coronavirus has infected over 900 people in India and brought the entire country to a near-standstill. At this time, many people have come forward to donate funds to help fight the virus and to support those who have been put into a precarious situation amid the nationwide lockdown.

Many people have already announced their contributions — from Bollywood stars like Akshay Kumar to southern film icons to sports persons such as PV Sindhu to regular citizens of the country.

Responding to the need for an exclusive fund to fight the virus, the Prime Minister on Saturday annolunced the formation of the Prime Minister’s Citizen Assistance and Relief in Emergency Situations Fund.

“People from all walks of life expressed their desire to donate to India’s war against COVID-19,” wrote Narendra Modi on Twitter. Keeping this in mind, he added, the PM-CARES fund had been constituted.

“It is my appeal to my fellow Indians, kindly contribute to the PM-CARES Fund. This Fund will also cater to similar distressing situations, if they occur in the times ahead,” he wrote on a Twitter thread.

Globally, the virus had so far affected over 600,000 people. Of these, over 28,000 have died. “The pandemic of COVID-19 has engulfed the entire world and has posed serious challenges for the health and economic security of millions of people worldwide,”‘ adds a PIB press release.

According to the Government release, the fund was formulated keeping in mind the need for a “dedicated national fund with the primary objective of dealing with any kind of emergency or distress situation”. The PIB note provides details about how to go about donating to the fund.

“The PM-CARES Fund accepts micro-donations too. It will strengthen disaster management capacities and encourage research on protecting citizens,” Modi added in a follow up tweet, adding the bank details.

Donations can be made by means of a bank transfer to the given account, or via debit and credit cards. There are also digital options such as Internet Banking, RTGS, NEFT and UPI. The latter also includes apps such as PhonePe, Google Pay and so on.

Let us also bring to your attention the fact that donations to this fund are exempted from income tax under section 80(G).

The public charitable trust under which the fund has been set up has the Prime Minister as its chairman, while others members include the Defence Minister, Home Minister and Finance Minister.

Following the Prime Minister’s announcement many people have come forward to donate to the fund. Actor Varun Dhawan took to Twitter to announce that he was contributing Rs. 30 lakhs to the fund.