Bollywood Celebs, Corporates donate generously to PM CARES Fund to combat Corona

The COVID-19 pandemic has engulfed the entire world and has posed serious challenges for the health and economic security of millions of people worldwide. In India too, the spread of coronavirus has been alarming and is posing severe health and economic ramifications for our country.

Keeping in mind the need for having a dedicated national fund with the primary objective of dealing with any kind of emergency or distress situation, like posed by the COVID-19 pandemic, and to provide relief to the affected, a public charitable trust under the name of ‘Prime Minister’s Citizen Assistance and Relief in Emergency Situations Fund’ (PM-CARES Fund) has been set up. Prime Minister is the Chairman of this trust and its members include the Defence Minister, the Home Minister and the Finance Minister.

“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,” Prime Minister Narendra Modi said.

“The PM-CARES Fund accepts micro-donations too. It will strengthen disaster management capacities and encourage research on protecting citizens,” the PM added. He further appealed citizens to not leave any stone unturned to make “India healthier and more prosperous for our future generations”.

Actor Akshay Kumar on Saturday pledged to donate Rs 25 crore in the fight against the coronavirus pandemic. Singer Guru Randhawa pledged to contribute Rs 20 lakh. Actor Varun Dhawan also took a pledge to contribute Rs 30 lakh to the PM CARE Fund. TV actor Arjun Bijlani also donated Rs 5 lakhs to the fund. Kabir Singh’s Producer Murad Khetani pledged Rs 25 lakh to the fund. Actress Kriti Sanon, Director Ashwiny Iyer Tiwari and 3 Idiots’ Director Rajkumar Hirani also pledged to donate to the fund with an undisclosed amount. Comedian Kapil Sharma also announced that he will contribute ₹50 lakh to the PM Relief Fund.

Former batsman Gautam Gambhir and Sports Minister Kiren Rijiju said that they have donated Rs 1 crore each from their MPLADS Funds. BCCI announced a donation of Rs 51 crore to PM-CARES Fund to aid in the battle against coronavirus. Cricketer Suresh Raina also pledged to donate Rs 31 lakh to the fund.

Paytm also said about aiming ₹500 crore to PM-CARES Fund by contributing an extra up to ₹10 on every contribution or any other payment made on its platform using the wallet, UPI and Paytm Bank debit card. PhonePe has also launched a 100 crore pledge campaign in which they will add ₹10 to everyone’s donation. Online stock trading platform, Motilal Oswal, is also donating ₹5 crore to the fund.

The Indian Administrative Services (IAS) Association is contributing ₹21 lakh and has encouraged its members to donate a day’s salary as well. Members of other branches of the government like the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) are also donating one to two day’s salary in the fight against coronavirus in India.

Citizens and organisations can go to the website pmindia.gov.in and donate to PM CARES Fund using the following details:
Name of the Account : PM CARES
Account Number : 2121PM20202
IFSC Code : SBIN0000691
SWIFT Code : SBININBB104
Name of Bank & Branch : State Bank of India, New Delhi Main Branch
UPI ID : pmcares@sbi

Following modes of payments are available on the website pmindia.gov.in –
-Debit Cards and Credit Cards
-Internet Banking
-UPI (BHIM, PhonePe, Amazon Pay, Google Pay, PayTM, Mobikwik, etc.)
-RTGS/NEFT
Donations to this fund will be exempted from income tax under section 80(G).