Odisha CM Urges PM To Contribute CSR Funds To CM’s Relief Fund

Bhubaneswar: Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik on Thursday urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi to make provision for contribution of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) funds to the Chief Minister’s Relief Fund (CMRF), similar to that of Prime Minister’s National Relief Fund (PMNRF), bringing amendments in Companies Act, 2013.

In his letter, the Chief Minister said, “The Odisha CMRF, like that of other states, uses its fund for various pro-poor activities. Some such examples are relief to eligible indigent persons for their medical treatment, ex-gratia to the next of kin of the poor deceased in case of unnatural death, compensation to the victims of road/rail accident, assistance to the family of poor deceased for performance of his/her last rites under an initiative titled as ‘Harishchandra Sahayata Yojana’, providing dead body carriers (hearse) to the government health institutions for easy transportation of the body from the place of death to the house of the deceased or place of cremation/burial under the banner termed ‘Mahaprayan’ and many such purposes.”

Stating that the Odisha CMRF has showed its generosity by even providing relief to victims of other states/country such as Jammu & Kashmir and Nepal in the event of severe natural calamities there, the CM said, “Looking into the gamut of its activities, it is felt that there is a need to augment the funds for CMRF. A number of eligible poor are still left unattended by the CMRF. In the above circumstances, it is pertinent to mention that the shortage of resources in CMRF can be addressed, to some extent, through the CSR fund of the public/private companies.”

Section-135 of the Companies Act, 2013, and CSR Policy Rules, 2014, mandate that from April 1, 2014, every company, private limited or public limited, which, either has a net worth Rs 500 crore or a turnover of Rs 1, 000 crore or net profit of Rs 5 crore, has to spend at least 2 per cent of its average net profit on CSR activities. Schedule-VII of the above Act specifically enlists the activities which are eligible for receiving funds under CSR. Item (IX) of the Schedule-VII mentions contribution to the PMNRF as an eligible activity under CSR. However, this Schedule doesn’t provide for contribution to state CMRFs as an eligible activity under CSR, the letter read.