Modi appoints Ratan Tata as PM CARES fund trustee

New Delhi, Sept 21: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday appointed ace industrialist Ratan Tata as one of the trustees of the Prime Minister’s Citizen Assistance and Relief in Emergency Situations(PM CARES) fund. A number of prominent personalities including former Justice KT Thomas and Deputy Speaker, Lok Sabha, Kariya Munda have been appointed as the Trustees of the fund, said a notification issued by the PMO today. The notifications read, Modi chaired a meeting of the Board of Trustees of the PM CARES recently where a presentation was made on the various initiatives under the PM CARES fund especially on the PM CARES for Children schemes, aiming to support at least 4, 345 children. During the meeting, Modi lauded the effort of the donors and the contributors for supporting the men and children in distress in view of the pandemic. The Trust has decided to nominate some eminent persons including Rajiv Mehrishi, former CAG of India, Sudha Murthy, former Chairperson, Infosys Foundation, Anand Shah, Co-Founder of Teach for India, and former  CEO of Indicorps and Piramal Foundation. Notably, the PM CARES Fund, set up to meet the emergencies such as the Covid pandemic, saw its growth nearly three-fold to almost  Rs 10,990 crore in 2020-21 fiscal. On the other hand, the contribution to the needy ones rose to Rs 3,976 crore, according to the latest audited statement. The particulars of the disbursal included Rs 1,000 crore for migrant welfare and over Rs 1,392 crore for funding of COVID-19 vaccines.