New Delhi : May 24, 2020. Chief of Defence Staff General Bipin Rawat has started donating Rs 50,000 from his monthly salary to the PM-CARES fund, news agency ANI reported on Sunday. The amount will be deducted from his salary and deposited in the Centre’s COVID-19 relief fund for the next twelve months, defence sources told ANI.
The former Army Chief wrote a letter in March requesting the concerned authorities to transfer the amount from his monthly salary, as per reports. The first deduction of Rs 50,000 was made in April, ANI reported.
Earlier, the CDS had reportedly joined Armed Forces personnel and employees from the Defence Ministry who donated a day’s salary to the PM-CARES relief fund. In March, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh had also announced that he would be donating a month’s salary to the fund.
The CDS’ decision to donate Rs 50,000 every month is likely to encourage other senior officials to contribute towards India’s fight against COVID-19, defence sources told ANI.
National Disaster Management Authority member and former Coast Guard Chief Rajendra Singh has also donated 30 per cent of his salary to the PM-CARES fund.
Earlier, a circular was issued by the Department of Revenue under the Ministry of Finance to all the officers and staff urging them to donate a day’s salary every month till March 2021 to the PM CARES (Prime Minister’s Citizen Assistance & Relief in Emergency Situations) Fund to aid the government’s efforts to fight the coronavirus pandemic.
