PM Modi's donations from savings, auctions exceed Rs 103 cr

Prime Minister Narendra Modi's donations to a number of public causes, ranging from girl child education to the cleaning of Ganga, from his savings and the proceeds of auctions of the gifts he received exceed Rs 103 crore, sources said on Thursday.

The latest among his donations was the initial corpus of Rs 2.25 lakh to the PM CARES Fund, which was set up in the wake of the COVID-19 outbreak to support relief of any kind relating to a public health emergency or any other kind of emergency, calamity or distress.

The Fund, set up in March, received Rs 3,076.62 crore in just five days of its formation, as per an account statement made public on Wednesday.

Highlighting Modi's donations to public causes, sources noted that he gave Rs 21 lakh in 2019 from his personal savings to the corpus fund set up for the welfare of sanitation workers of Kumbh Mela.

After receiving the Seoul Peace Prize in South Korea in 2019, the prime minister had announced that the entire prize money of Rs 1.30 crore would be given to the Namami Gange project, aimed at cleaning Ganga river, they added.

PM Modi has contributed to many public causes. These donations have now exceeded Rs 103 crores, the sources said.

During a recent auction of mementoes received by Modi as prime minister, Rs 3.40 crore was collected and donated to the cause of Namami Gange.

The sources said Modi had donated Rs 21 lakh from his personal savings towards the education of Gujarat government staff's daughter after he quit as the state chief minister in 2014 to take over as the country's prime minister.

He had also raised Rs 89.96 crore by auctioning all gifts he received as chief minister and donated this to the Kanya Kelavani Fund, a scheme for education of the girl child.

The prime minister had also initiated the auctioning of gifts he received till then in 2015, and Rs 8.35 crore were raised, with the amount channelled to the Namami Gange Mission, sources said.