E-Paper
‘Make donation to CM relief fund part of CSR’: West Bengal FM Amit Mitra
The West Bengal government has urged the central government to allow contributions made to the Chief Minister’s Relief Fund or the State Relief Fund for Covid-19 as a corporate social responsibility (CSR) expenditure.
The West Bengal government has urged the central government to allow contributions made to the Chief Minister’s Relief Fund or the State Relief Fund for Covid-19 as a corporate social responsibility (CSR) expenditure.
In a letter to Union finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman, West Bengal finance minister Amit Mitra said that confusion was created among business establishments after the ministry of corporate affairs (MCA) in an April 10 circular, detailing the frequently asked questions (FAQs) on CSR, said contributions to CM’s relief fund or the state relief fund for Covid-19 relief do not qualify for CSR but those to the PM-CARES fund and the State Disaster Management Authority do.
In the letter, which has been viewed by HT, Mitra said that the MCA had in its March 23 circular stated that “spending of CSR funds for Covid-19 is eligible CSR activity.”
“May I point out that the circular no 10/2020 dtd. 23.3.20 issued by the Ministry of Corporate Affairs, clearly stated that ‘Spending of CSR funds for Covid-19 is eligible CSR activity’. Therefore we were confident that the contributions to the Fund will qualify as CSR activity for businesses Unfortunately, a huge confusion has arisen among companies after the issuance of the FAQ,” he said.
The letter added that West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee raised the issue with Prime Minister Narendra Modi during a video conference on April 11.
