PM CARES Fund strengthened by new trustees & advisors; Ratan Tata, Sudha Murthy on board

In a huge development, 3 eminent persons including TATA Sons Chairman Emeritus Ratan Tata were nominated as trustees of the PM CARES Fund. The other newly nominated trustees are former Supreme Court judge KT Thomas and former Lok Sabha Speaker Kariya Munda. Besides this, the Trust appointed an advisory board comprising former Comptroller and Auditor General Rajiv Mehrishi, former Infosys Foundation chairperson Sudha Murthy and Teach for India co-founder Anand Shah. The new trustees and advisors attended a meeting chaired by PM Modi on Wednesday.

On this occasion, the PM exuded confidence that the participation of new Trustees and Advisors will provide wider perspectives to the functioning of the PM CARES Fund. He also opined that their vast experience in public life shall help make the fund more responsive to various public needs. During the meeting, a presentation was made on the aarious initiatives undertaken with the help of the PM CARES Fund, including the PM CARES for Children scheme which is supporting 4345 children. Union Home Minister Amit Shah and Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman were also present on the occasion. 

Here's more about the new trustees & advisors:

• Ratan Tata- Besides being an industry doyen having served as the Chairman of Tata Sons from 1991 till 2012, he is also a leading philanthropist. After his retirement, he was conferred the honorary title of Chairman Emeritus of Tata Sons, Tata Motors, Tata Steel and Tata Chemicals. In 2008, he was honoured with Padma Vibhushan- India's second-highest civilian award.
• KT Thomas- After serving as a judge of the Kerala High Court for 12 years, he was elevated to the Supreme Court in 1996. After his retirement in 2002, he was appointed as the chairman of three committees. In 2007, the President of India conferred Padma Bhushan on him. 
• Kariya Munda- A veteran politician hailing from Jharkhand, Munda has served as a Lok Sabha MP from Khunti for 7 terms. After his first election victory in 1977, he was immediately inducted into the Council of Ministers as MoS Steel and Mines. He was also a part of the Atal Bihari Vajpayee-led government from 2001 to 2004. From 2009 to 2014, he functioned as the Deputy Speaker of Lok Sabha.
• Rajiv Mehrishi- A 1978-batch IAS officer of the Rajasthan cadre, Mehrishi served in many key posts in the state as well as the Centre. Towards the end of his career, he was the Finance Secretary (2014-2015), Home Secretary (2015-2017) and CAG (2017-2020). He was awarded with Padma Bhushan in 2022. 
• Sudha Murthy- Starting her career by working as an engineer with TELCO, she served as the chairperson of Infosys Foundation- the philanthropic and CSR arm of Infosys from 1996 to 2021. She is also a prolific writer with her books inspiring people over the decades. She was awarded the Padma Shri in 2006.
• Anand Shah- An entrepreneur, Shah is the founding CEO of the Piramal Foundation, a co-founder of Teach for India and the founder of Indiacorps. He also co-founded Ola's foray into electric vehicles. At present, he is a senior advisor at The Asia Group, a strategic advisory firm.

What is PM CARES fund?

Called the Prime Minister's Citizen Assistance and Relief in Emergency Situations Fund, this charitable trust was set up by the Centre on March 28, 2020. All citizens including individuals, corporates, and organizations can contribute to this fund to augment the relief efforts in the wake of the novel coronavirus crisis. The donation to PM CARES fund is exempted from Income Tax under Section 80(G). One can donate via bank transfer, UPI, Debit and Credit Cards, and internet banking. This fund would not only cater to similar situations in the future but would also help strengthen disaster management capacity.