PM Modi setup the “Prime Minister Citizen Assistance and Relief in Emergency Situations” (PM CARES) Fund, a public charitable trust on 28th March 2020. On expected lines and from the expected quarters (HMVs, Lootyens etc etc etc) there was a hue and cry. The big question was about why we needed another fund when we had the PM National Disaster Relief fund already. 🙂
Everyone knows that it was Mrs. Sonia Gandhi who ran the UPA government between 2004-2014. Dr. ManMohan Singh was just the PM face with no powers. Mrs. Sonia Gandhi is the Chairperson of the Rajiv Gandhi foundation. Totally cosy family affair this. The only challenge with all this family affair is this – “India” happens to be an independent, democratic, pseudo “secular” country since 1947. We are one big Indian family but we don’t belong to the CONgress family.
Last night as the news about Rajiv Gandhi Foundation receiving a donation from the Republic of China was flashing all over the news channels, Krishnan noticed that the PM National disaster relief fund also had made a donation to the foundation. I was going through the Annual reports of the Rajiv Gandhi Foundation and indeed they have received donations from the PM National Disaster Relief Fund. Not just the PMNDR Fund, but several ministries have also given them donations.
Am melting here with all the cosy family love. I would like to know why the European Commission, the Republic of Ireland, the Republic of China etc have given money to a private foundation in India? If they so wanted to help our country, they could have given to the PM National Disaster Relief Fund. What disaster relief was RGF involved in ? I really wish somebody can trace where all the donations went. The RGF (Rajiv Gandhi Foundation) doesn’t do work directly, they parse out the work to their partners. Read more at this link – http://rgfindia.org.
I just Googled two organizations that have been mentioned as partners of RGF.
- Integra Designs was listed as a partner under Disabled Persons’ Welfare Projects. There is a design firm named Integral Design, but no company named Integra Designs. And what has a design firm got to do with the disabled ?
- Hilda Trust was listed as a partner under the Literacy and Education Projects. There is no website for Hilda Trust and on the Darpan website, it is listed, as a trust but no information about its activities.
I also googled three other trusts that are donors to RGF. Vaitarna, Vihar and Vindya Trust. None of them have an online presence at all, so wonder who they are and why they were donating to RGF.
Here are some interesting donor information taken from the Annual Report of 2005-06.
Govt of Ireland and several ministries have donated ! 
The great Ford Foundation that has been working in India since 1952 without formally registering is also a donor to RGF. No surprise though.
Unconfirmed news is that the PM National Disaster Relief Fund has the President of CONgress as a permanent trustee. That information plus the wonderful activities of the Rajiv Gandhi Foundation is sufficient reason for PM Modi to create the PM CARES Fund. And PM Modi does truly care.
Note : Please donate only to the PM CARES fund for any Covid19 relief activities.
Naethi Aadi