While India continues to battle Coronavirus spread with 1071 confirmed cases and 29 deaths, people from all walks of life including actors, industrialists, and politicians have come forward to contribute.
In the wake of the Coronavirus outbreak, the Union government has formed a public charitable trust under the name The Prime Minister’s Citizen Assistance and Relief in Emergency Situations Fund (PM-CARES).
Some have contributed to the PM-CARES fund while some have preferred to support in other capacities. Here is a list of people who have already contributed to Indian efforts to counter Coronavirus:
Celebrities Pledged Support
Actress Anushka Sharma, her cricketer-husband Virat Kohli pledged support for the PM CARES fund and the relief fund for Maharashtra chief minister. They have opted not to disclose the amount, however.
Filmmaker Karan Johar, actress Sonam Kapoor, Ayushman Khurrana and only a few others have pledged support but didn’t mention how much they donated.
Sachin Tendulkar donated Rs 25 lakh to the Prime Minister’s Relief Fund each, and Cricketer Suresh Raina, Chief Minister of Maharashtra’s Relief Fund, donated Rs 31 lakh to the PM-CARES Fund and Rs 21 lakh to UP CM’s Disaster Relief Fund to counter coronavirus.
Bollywood superstar Akshay Kumar has announced that Rs 25 crore will be donated to PM-CARES.
Bollywood actor Kartik Aaryan has donated Rs 1 Crore to the PM-Cares fund of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Bollywood superstar Salman Khan will assist with the film industry’s 25,000-odd daily wages whose lives have been disrupted by the ongoing national lockdown. Salman’s contribution would benefit the Western India Cine Employees Federation of Artists (FWICE), said BN Tiwari, president of the association.
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Varun Dhawan pledged Rs 30 lakh to the PM-CARES Fund, and Rs 25 lakh to the relief fund Maharashtra CM.
Actor Shilpa Shetty has pledged to donate Rs 21 lakhs to PM-CARES along with her husband Raj Kundra.
Bhushan Kumar, who heads T-Series film studio, said Rs 11 crore will be donated.
Corporate Made Donations
Adani Foundation has donated Rs 100 crore for the fight against the coronavirus pandemic to the PM CARES Trust.
In addition to opening India’s first COVID-19 hospital in Mumbai, Tata Sons and Tata Trusts vowed to donate Rs 1,500 crore for the cause while Reliance Industries had made an initial donation of Rs 5 Crore.
The JSW Group said it would extend Rs 100 Crore’s financial assistance to combat the deadly virus.
Engineering and construction giant Larsen & Toubro announced the donation of Rs 150 to the PM-CARES Fund, which it has set aside over Rs 500 crore every month to fund over 1,60 lakh contract employees.
Mahindra & Mahindra Group’s Anand Mahindra had agreed to provide resorts in Mahindra as treatment facilities for those infected. The Mahindra Group is also working to create ventilators for patients diagnosed with COVID-19.
Several FMCG firms such as ITC, HUL, RB, and Godrej have pledged material and monetary assistance to assist the government.
ITC chairman Sanjiv Puri declared that the conglomerate has set up Rs 150 crore COVID-19 contingency funds to provide relief to the neediest sections of society, provide assistance to rural healthcare and even provide medical personnel with protective equipment.
Ministers Let Go of Salaries, Release Funds
President Ram Nath Kovind said he would donate a month’s salary to the fund to “help the nation tide over the COVID-19 crisis” and appealed to peasants to generously donate to it.
Six-time boxer world champion M C Mary Kom said she would donate her one-month salary as Rajya Sabha MP to the Prime Minister’s Relief Fund to counter the country’s COVID-19 pandemic, amounting to Rs 1 lakh.
Vice President M Venkaiah Naidu, Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla and various Union ministers including Rajnath Singh, Nitin Gadkari, Piyush Goyal, Dharmendra Pradhan, Ravi Shankar Prasad, Prakash Javadekar, Kiren Rijiju, and Santosh Gangwar were among those who made similar commitments.
