Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik contended that Chief Minister’s Relief Fund should be made eligible to accept contributions from the CSR fund of private and private companies since the companies are contributing to the Prime Minister’s National Relief Fund.
There is a specific provision in the Companies Act, 2013 & CSR Policy Rules, 2014 which states that they can contribute from the CSR fund to the PMNRF, noted the CM in a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday.
Philanthropic activities being undertaken by the Odisha Chief Minister’s Relief Fund (CMRF) and also, the need for augmentation of its resources through contribution of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) Fund of the Corporates.
The Odisha CMRF, like that of other States, uses its fund for various pro-poor activities. Some such examples are relief to eligible indigent persons for their medical treatment, ex-gratia to the next of kin of the poor deceased in case of their unnatural and untimely death, compensation to the victims of road and rail accident, assistance to the family of poor deceased for performance of his last rites under an initiative titled as ‘Harischandra Sahayata Yojana’, providing Dead Body Carriers (hearse).
The Odisha CMRF has showed its generosity by even providing relief to victims of other States/ country such as Jammu & Kashmir & Nepal in the event of severe natural calamity there, he said.
The gamut of activities calls for augmentation of the CMRF. A number of eligible poor are still left unattended by the CMRF, he submitted while pleading for inclusion of CMRF in the eligible list of CSR activity of companies.