Chandigarh, April 1 (TIWN) Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh on Wednesday urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi to allow companies in the state to use their Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) contribution to assist the state in its efforts against Covid-19.

In a letter to the Prime Minister, Amarinder Singh asked him to direct the Ministry of Corporate Affairs to include CM Relief Fund in the list of CSR activities in the Companies Act of 2013 in the national interest.  This step would immensely help the state to meet the challenge of Covid-19 pandemic more effectively, besides providing medical and other assistance to the poor and needy residents as well as migrant labour in the wake of the nationwide lockdown, he wrote.  Amarinder Singh requested the Prime Minister for an early decision in this regard, given the magnitude of the calamity, coupled with the resultant humanitarian crisis.  The Chief Minister said in his letter that companies in Punjab were seeking permission, in these trying circumstances, to use their CSR contribution to assist the state in its endeavour to contain Covid-19.  This was essential as the country was already grappling with a huge and unprecedented disaster, he added.  The Chief Minister had on June 7, 2018, sought inclusion of the CM Relief Fund in the list of activities permitted in Schedule VII of the Companies Act, 2013.  However, the then Union Finance and Corporate Affairs Minister had on August 9, 2018, responded that there was no justification for such inclusion.  An official spokesperson said the Chief Minister felt the current situation was, however, totally unprecedented and required unprecedented measures to tackle it.