In the need to fight COVID-19 pandemic urgently, Union minister of chemicals and fertilizers D V Sadananda Gowda has urged all the profit making public sector undertakings (PSUs) under his ministry to donate part of their CSR funds to Prime Minister’s Citizen Assistance and Relief in Emergency Situations Fund (PM CARES).
“Government of India is taking all possible steps to prevent spread of the outbreak. However, a public health situation of this scale requires concerted efforts from all sections of the society. Therefore, I request you all to contribute maximum possible amount of your CSR budget to PM CARES.” Gowda stated in a letter sent to CMDs of all the PSUs.
He further said, “Government of India has set up the PM CARES fund with the primary objective of dealing with any kind of emergency or distress situation such as that posed by COVID-19 pandemic and the Ministry of Corporate Affairs has already clarified that any contribution made to the said fund shall qualify as CSR expenditure under the Companies Act 2013.”
“It is a good opportunity for the PSUs to utilize their unspent CSR funds for financial year 2019-20 by contributing to the above fund immediately. Similarly the companies may also contribute to this fund from April 2020 onwards for FY 2020-21.” Gowda further added.
Central minister said that he has also requested CMDs of all the PSUs to motivate the employees of their company to voluntarily contribute at least one day of their monthly salary to PM CARES fund.
Gowda has donated his one month salary and one crore rupees from his Members of Parliament Local Area Development (MPLAD) fund to PM National Relief Fund.
