 "Swachh Bharat: PSUs made a third of total donations to Modi's pet project")
The Indian railways under Suresh Prabhu might be resorting to surge pricing and fare hikes to stem its bleeding finances, but that hasn’t stopped the railways from expanding its cash on donations to PM Modi’s pet project Swachh Bharat Abhiyan.
Information obtained by Business Standard through Right to Information (RTI) Act shows that railways and its various subsidiaries donated almost Rs 35 crore between 2014 and 2016 to the Swachh Bharat Kosh (SBK) or the Clean India Fund.
Not just railways, almost a third of the Rs 455 crore donations to the Clean India Fund were made by Public Sector Units (PSUs).
Not just railways, almost a third of the Rs 455 crore donations to the Clean India Fund were made by Public Sector Units (PSUs).
Business Standard had previously reported how Mata Amritanandmayi Math, a Kerala-based spiritual organisation had alone donated Rs 100 crore while engineering behemoth Larsen & Toubro had donated Rs 61 crore.
Amongst all railway affiliates, the biggest donor was Indian Railway Finance Corporation (IRFC). To its credit, IRFC is a profit making body and is the financing arm of the Indian railways. Other affiliates from the railways which have donated include IRCON International and RITES which are also profit making bodies.
Amongst all railway affiliates, the biggest donor was Indian Railway Finance Corporation (IRFC). To its credit, IRFC is a profit making body and is the financing arm of the Indian railways. Other affiliates from the railways which have donated include IRCON International and RITES which are also profit making bodies.
The government’s note printing company Security Printing and Minting Corporation of India Limited (SPMCIL) also contributed to the tune of Rs 3.5 crore twice in 2015.
There are also a host of state owned insurance companies that also contributed to the fund. These included companies like United India Insurance Company, Oriental Insurance, General Insurance Company, Agriculture Insurance Company, National Insurance Company, SBI Life Insurance and Life Insurance Corporation (LIC). All these insurance companies together contributed close to Rs 38 crore to the fund with the largest donations coming from General Insurance Company.
While various PSUs and corporate houses formed the bulk of donors, there were a list of anonymous donations worth several crores. Although these donations were made by bank transfers (NEFT), these donors wished to remain anonymous. The biggest anonymous donation of Rs 20 crore came on March 11, 2015.
A look at the overall figures shows that the PSUs along with Mata Amritanandmayi Math and Larsen & Toubro accounted for almost 70% of the total donations to the Clean India Fund between 2014 to October this year.