Don’t miss the latest developments in business and finance.

image

National Defence Fund

About National Defence Fund

Facebook IconLinkedIN Icon

What is National Defence Fund?

Set up in 1962, the National Defence Fund or NDF is used for the welfare of the members of the Armed Forces and their defendants. The Fund decides on utilisation of the voluntary donations received for the promotion of national defence effort.
 
Apart from the Armed Forces, the fund is also used for the welfare of the Para Military Forces, Railway Protection Force and their dependents.
 
The Fund is administered by the Prime Minister as its chairperson and Home Minister, Defence Minister and Finance Minister as its members. The Finance Minister also acts as the treasurer of the fund. Accounts of the fund are kept with the Reserve Bank of India. Much like the PM National Relief Fund, this fund also completely runs on voluntary donations and does not get any budgetary allocations. In 2016, the government decided to exempt all donations towards NDF from Income Tax under Section 80(G). The NDF accepts donations from individuals, organisations, trusts, companies and institutions etc.
 
Schemes under NDF
 
Under NDF, the Prime Minister's Scholarship Scheme (PMSS) through monetary support encourages technical and post-graduate education for widows and wards of the deceased or former service personnel of armed forces and paramilitary forces and Railway Protection Force. PM Narendra Modi in his second tenure decided to enhance the rates of scholarship from Rs 2,000 per month to Rs 2,500 per month for boys and from Rs 2,500 per month to Rs 3,000 per girls. Modi also increased the ambit of the scholarship scheme to wards of state police personnel who died during terror/naxal attacks.
 
Scholarships can be availed to take admission in technical institutions (medical, dental, veterinary, engineering, MBA, MCA, and other equivalent technical professions with suitable AICTE/UGC approval). The PM scholarship scheme is given to 5,500 wards of armed forces, 2,000 wards of paramilitary forces and 150 wards of forces under the Railways Ministry each year. Currently, after the revision of the scheme, 500 wards of state police personnel have been added to it.
 
The scheme is handled by the Ministry of Home Affairs and Ministry of Railways respectively as far as personnel of paramilitary forces and Railway Protection Force are concerned.
 
Separately, Rs 15 lakh from the Fund is released annually to the SPG Family Welfare Fund to undertake various welfare activities for the benefit of its personnel and their families. NDF grants are also released every year to the Ministry of Defence to purchase books for the Defence services (Army, Navy, Air Force) and the Coast Guard as well.
 

Here are the latest news from Business Standard

Latest News

Record fundraising surpasses the previous high of Rs 9,370 cr in 2023

Updated On: 22 Dec 2024 | 12:35 PM IST

The NGS facility is expected to bolster ongoing projects and enable new research avenues, including the study of genetic adaptation to climate change, pathogen-host interactions, and the development

Updated On: 22 Dec 2024 | 12:35 PM IST

U Mumba will rely on their star raider, Ajit Chouhan, to lead the team in their upcoming match.

Updated On: 22 Dec 2024 | 12:26 PM IST

A 50-year-old doctor from Saudi Arabia, who has been living in Germany since 2006, is the prime suspect in the Christmas market attack in Magdeburg, which killed five people

Updated On: 22 Dec 2024 | 12:30 PM IST

Stay with us for all the major news updates from around the world

Updated On: 22 Dec 2024 | 12:22 PM IST

The celebrated musician, one of India's most well-known, received four Grammy Awards in his career spanning six decades, including three at the 66th Grammy Awards earlier this year

Updated On: 22 Dec 2024 | 12:06 PM IST

Companies of varying market capitalisations -- large, mid, and small -- tapped into the IPO route in 2024, with the average issue size rising significantly from Rs 867 crore in 2023 to over Rs 1,700cr

Updated On: 22 Dec 2024 | 11:49 AM IST

The captain has not been in his best touch, particularly while batting at No. 6, raising doubts about his future in Test cricket.

Updated On: 22 Dec 2024 | 11:28 AM IST

Sven Ostberg, Consul General of Sweden in Mumbai, cited examples of Envac's solid waste management systems in Mumbai and Gujarat, and IVL's wastewater treatment plant addressing pollution

Updated On: 22 Dec 2024 | 11:18 AM IST

Indian Army said - Indian Army reacted swiftly for the rescue. In a remarkable display of coordinated efforts, Indian Army Columns along with NDRF and State rescue teams have been relentlessly working

Updated On: 22 Dec 2024 | 10:59 AM IST

Reports indicate that three prominent Saudi clubs-Al Ahli, Al Ittihad, and Al Qadsiah-are all vying for the England international's signature in January.

Updated On: 22 Dec 2024 | 10:51 AM IST

Additionally, factors like high valuations, weak corporate earnings for the September quarter, expectations of subdued results for December, rising inflation, slower GDP growth

Updated On: 22 Dec 2024 | 10:48 AM IST

Initially, the petition was filed in the MP-MLA court, where it was dismissed. However, the petitioner pursued the matter by appealing to the District Judge Court

Updated On: 22 Dec 2024 | 10:34 AM IST

While speaking at the "Hala Modi" community event at Kuwait's Sheikh Saad Al-Abdullah Indoor Sports Complex, PM Modi highlighted India's rapid transformation in various fields, including technology

Updated On: 22 Dec 2024 | 10:26 AM IST

According to Radio Free Asia, this shipment is part of a larger order of 122 tanks expected over the next two years. While the M1A2T is regarded as one of the most advanced main battle tanks globally

Updated On: 22 Dec 2024 | 9:54 AM IST

There has been increasing concern from Albanian parents after reports of children taking knives and other objects to school to use in quarrels or cases of bullying promoted by stories on TikTok

Updated On: 22 Dec 2024 | 9:54 AM IST

Punjab's ruling Aam Aadmi Party won the municipal elections in Patiala and was leading in Ludhiana and Jalandhar, while the Congress was ahead in Phagwara and Amritsar.

Updated On: 22 Dec 2024 | 9:44 AM IST

The 50 per cent target is a long way, but industry-watchers feel that over the next four to six years, India's auto exports would continue to grow in double digits

Updated On: 22 Dec 2024 | 9:27 AM IST

Jaishankar was conferred the 27th SIES Sri Chandrasekarendra Saraswati National Eminence Award. The awards are given in four fields Public Leadership, Community Leadership, Human endeavour, Science

Updated On: 22 Dec 2024 | 9:17 AM IST

India opener KL Rahul got hit on his hand while batting at the nets here on Saturday and was promptly attended to by the visiting team's physio ahead of the fourth Test against Australia.

Updated On: 22 Dec 2024 | 9:17 AM IST

No More Data