CHENNAI: Chief Minister MK Stalin on Tuesday issued an appeal to the people of Tamil Nadu, asking them to contribute towards the relief being sent to the people of Sri Lanka, who have been suffering amid the country’s worst-ever economic crisis.
The plea comes a day after the Union Minister for External Affairs, S Jaishankar, informed the CM that the TN Chief Secretary may coordinate with the Union Government for the supply and distribution of the relief materials to the island nation.
In a statement, Stalin explained that the State government had received permission from the Union government to send food and essentials from TN to the people of Sri Lanka. In the first phase, 40,000 tonnes of rice, 500 tonnes of milk powder and life-saving drugs will be sent to Sri Lanka.
The CM has urged people to contribute to the relief being sent from the State through the Chief Minister’s Public Relief Fund (CMPRF). Donors may transfer the funds through https://ereceipt.tn.gov.in. cmprf/cmprf.html. They will be entitled to tax exemption under Section 80G of the Income Tax Act.
The CM also announced that the ruling DM K, of which he is president, will be contributing Rs 1 crore to the fund towards relief for Sri Lankans. The party’s MLAs will also be contributing one month’s salary to the CMPRF. The Tamil Nadu Assembly had recently adopted an unanimous resolution urging the Union government to consider the State government’s request to send humanitarian assistance worth Rs 123 crore to the neighbouring nation.