CM renews appeal for donations to fight COVID-19

Precautionary measures will be strengthened in the coming days, says Palaniswami

08/04/2020, SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT,CHENNAI

Edappadi K. Palaniswami

Chief Minister Edappadi K. Palaniswami on Tuesday reiterated his appeal for donations to the Chief Minister's Public Relief Fund (CMPRF) to aid the efforts to combat the spread of COVID-19.

“The precautionary measures will be strengthened in the coming days. The Tamil Nadu government needs the participation of industrialists, leading private companies, NGOs, donors and the people of Tamil Nadu to efficiently adopt these precautionary measures,” Mr. Palaniswami said in a statement.

Noting that many have already pitched in, he said, “Children and students have come forward to donate whatever amount they can.”

The CM had previously appealed for donations on March 27.

While the donations made from within the country would be 100% exempted for tax under Section 80G of the Income Tax Act, contributions from NRIs would be eligible for tax exemption under Section 50 of the Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Act, 2010, an official press release said. Contributions could be made online using credit/debit card or through Electronic Clearing Service (ECS) or demand draft.

Those who wish to contribute through net banking or credit/debit card could do so by visiting https://ereceipt.tn.gov.in/cmprf/cmprf.html. For those who wish to use the ECS option, the details of the bank are as follows: Indian Overseas Bank, Secretariat Branch, Chennai 600009. The savings account number is 117201000000070, the IFSC is IOBA0001172 and the CMPRF’s PAN is AAAGC0038F.

Those who opt for ECS are requested to provide the following details: name, amount contributed, bank and branch, date of deposit, acknowledgement number, full postal address and e-mail ID.

NRIs wishing to donate could do so by using the SWIFT Code IOBAINBB0001 for the Indian Overseas Bank, Central Office, Chennai.

Those who do not wish to use any of the abovementioned options could send a demand draft to Deputy Secretary to Government and Treasurer, Chief Minister's Public Relief Fund, Finance Department, Tamil Nadu Government, Secretariat, Chennai 600009, Tamil Nadu, India.

Donors could e-mail the details of the transactions to dspaycell.findpt@tn.gov.in

The CMPRF has received funds to the tune of ₹79.74 crore so far. In the last four days alone, it has received ₹17.44 crore.