Chidambaram says 'nothing for migrants' as Centre allocates Rs 3,100cr of PM CARES fund

A day after Rs 3,100 crore of PM CARES Fund was allocated to purchase of ventilators and to help migrants, Congress leader P Chidambaram has said that the money will not be given to the migrant workers and there should not be any misunderstanding. He said that the money will go to the State governments which can then meet the expenses of travel, accommodation, medicine and food for the migrant workers. Chidambaram asked: "But nothing will go to the hands of the migrant workers. Let’s take a migrant worker who has crossed all hurdles and returned to his village. There are no jobs in the village. He has no work and no income. How will he survive and support his family?"

Allocation for migrants

On Wednesday, the PM CARES Fund Trust decided to allocate Rs 3,100 crore for the fight against the novel coronavirus. While Rs 2,000 crore shall be earmarked for the purchase of ventilators, Rs 1,000 crore will be used for the care of migrants. Additionally, Rs 100 crore will be dedicated to the development of the COVID-19 vaccine. As per a press release, the PM thanked all the donors for their generosity in contributing to the PM CARES Fund. 

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Details of the allocation

In a further push towards the Centre's push for indigenous products, 50,000 'Made-in-India' ventilators shall be purchased from the PM CARES fund. The ventilators will be provided to government-run COVID-19 hospitals in states and Union Territories. As far as the allocation for migrants is concerned, the state governments shall be given a lump sum amount of Rs.1000 crore.

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These funds will be released to the District Collectors and Municipal Commissioners for providing accommodation facilities, food arrangements, medical treatment and transportation arrangements of the migrants. The funds will be given to the states based on the weightage of the population (50%), the number of COVID-19 cases (40%) and equal share for all states(10%). The amount for the vaccine development shall be utilised under the supervision of the Principal Scientific Advisor.

Rs.3,100 cr of PM CARES Fund allocated for COVID-19 fight; migrant workers to benefit