Rs 1000 crore for migrants from PM-CARES ..... The sum will be given to the states as a 'lump-sum assistance'

Migrants walk towards their native places during the nationwide Covid-19 lockdown, in Jaipur, Wednesday, May 13, 2020. (PTI)

TT, 14.05.20, New Delhi: The Centre on Wednesday announced Rs 3,100 crore from the PM-CARES Fund towards fighting Covid-19, the first such outgo from the fund whose operations remain largely opaque.

A government release said “approximately Rs 2,000 crore will be earmarked for the purchase of ventilators”, Rs 1,000 crore for the “care of migrant labourers” and Rs 100 crore for “vaccine development”.

The fund, formed in end-March to battle the coronavirus, is headed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi with a few other ministers as ex-officio members. Several corporate houses have donated hundreds of crores to the fund.

Questions have been raised why the fund was formed when the Prime Minister Disaster Relief Fund had existed for decades, and why it was being kept out of the comptroller and auditor general’s ambit. The Congress has been asking Modi to reveal how much money the fund has received and how it is being used.

Wednesday’s government release said the sum of Rs 1,000 crore earmarked for migrant labourers would be given to the states as a “lump-sum assistance” towards the stranded workers.

“This amount would be provided to the state governments/ UTs to place it at the disposal of the district collectors/ municipal commissioners for strengthening their efforts in providing accommodation facilities, making food arrangements, providing medical treatment and making transportation arrangements of the migrants,” the release said.

What share of the sum each state receives will depend on its population and the number of its Covid-19 patients.

The biggest allotment of Rs 2,000 crore will be used to buy 50,000 ventilators for government-run Covid-19 hospitals. The release said the ventilators will be “made in India” in keeping with Modi’s push on Tuesday for the promotion of home-grown products.

Earmarking Rs 100 crore for vaccine development efforts, the release said: “A vaccine against Covid-19 is the most pressing need and Indian academia, start-ups and industry have come together in cutting-edge vaccine design and development.”

It added that the money would act as a “helping hand”.