Prime Minister, Narendra Modi, has asked officials to minimise the pendency in disposing applications for help from the Prime Minister’s National Relief Fund.

Modi chaired a meeting with his officials to review the functioning of the fund and suggested various changes.

Selection of beneficiaries

Referring the Gujarat model, he directed that the selection of beneficiaries should be done in a more comprehensive, scientific and humanitarian basis, giving priority to children, poor, and cases from Government Hospitals. Life-threatening diseases should be accorded priority, and cases should be decided on need and merit.

He also asked for minimising the pendency in appeals for help. He said that the draw to select the cases should be conducted in a manner that does not leave out any genuine case.

It was decided that a letter from the Prime Minister should be sent to all beneficiaries. Beneficiaries, whose appeals have been approved for grant of relief, will be informed through an SMS alert.

The fund was set up in 1948 following an appeal by then PM Pandit Jawahar Lal Nehru. Initially, the focus was to assist displaced persons from Pakistan with the help of public contributions.

Now, it is being utilised to render immediate relief to the families of those killed in natural calamities like floods, cyclones and earthquakes, and to the victims of major accidents and riots. Help is also granted for medical treatment like heart surgeries, kidney transplantation, cancer treatment, etc.

Relief fund

The fund consists entirely of public contributions and does not get any budgetary support. The corpus of the fund is invested with banks in fixed deposits. Disbursements are made with the approval of the PM. Anybody contributing in this fund get income-tax benefit.

Anyone can apply to get relief, but the disbursement is made at the discretion of the Prime Minister, and in accordance with the Prime Minister's directions. Similarly, all applications are not accommodated keeping in view of limited resources and large number of applications.

Currently, the fund has over Rs 2,000 crore as balance, while it provided Rs 377 crore as relief in 2013-14 and received an income (including contribution and interest) of Rs 297 crore.

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