Congress slams Modi govt for not keeping CM-Relief Fund as part of CSR, like PM-Cares

Congress slams Modi govt for not keeping CM-Relief Fund as part of CSR, like PM-Cares

FPJ Web DeskUpdated: Monday, April 13, 2020, 04:29 PM IST
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Anand Sharma |

Recently the Ministry of Corporate Affairs had clarified that funds donated to the Chief Minister's Relief Fund or the State Relief Fund would not count towards Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR).

As per the COVID-19 related FAQs released by the Ministry, only donations to the newly formed PM-CARES Fund count towards CSR -- something that Congress leader and the Rajya Sabha's Deputy leader of Opposition, Anand Sharma calls discriminatory.

"The Central government should not discriminate against states. PMNRF already exists and thereโ€™s also the CM relief fund. The decision to make PM CARES is wrong. Its money should be transferred to PMNRF, which is audited by CAG," Sharma said on Monday.

With a day left for India's 21-day coronavirus lockdown to end, many states have already announced an extension. In recent days some Chief Minister's have indicated that this is based on instructions from the Prime Minister. An official announcement from the Centre however is yet to be made.

With the lockdown, many businesses have come to an absolute standstill. Many others are facing issues when it comes to selling their wares or transporting it.

Sharma said that the situation had caused the country's economy to collapse, and emphasised the need for a strategy. He also urged for some changes to revive MSMEs, and said that a policy for the production of daily use goods was needed.

"There are talks of removing the lockdown in three steps. Some economic activities to be started in the first phase where there are a large number of daily wage labourers," Sharma said via video conference, the footage of which was posted to the Congress' Twitter handle.

"There needs to be a policy for the production of daily use goods. If the goods are not manufactured, how will there be daily supplies? With this, the problem of transportation will also have to be resolved. Also, MSMEs will have to be offered zero interest loans," he opined.

Reminding that it was time to harvest wheat and mustard crops, Sharma said that it was necessary to ensure that the crops would be sold.

"For this it is necessary to have decentralisation," he added.

"The ILO report estimates that 40 crore workers in India will fall below the poverty line. We need to act upon it so that this situation can be avoided," Sharma said.

He also opined that states should be provided with adequate resources.

"GST refunds have not yet been given and MGNREGA salaries have not been paid. This needs attention. Part-2 of the economic package really needs to be announced," he said.

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