Prime Minister’s National Relief Fund: How it all started?

In recent weeks, there has been considerable discussion in the Press on whether donations should be made to the well-established Prime Minister’s National Relief Fund or the newly founded PM CARES Fund. In this context, readers may find it instructive to read about how the original Prime Minister’s Relief Fund came into being.

Jawaharlal Nehru sent the following note to Cabinet Ministers, 25 November 1947, proposing the setting up of the Fund.

A National Relief Fund

For some time past I have been receiving odd sums of money which were either earmarked for relief work or were to be spent at my discretion. I passed these on to other funds meant for relief purposes. Many of these amounts were sent to me as Prime Minister, some were sent personally. Later I decided to put them aside in a special account pending decision as to how this should be used.

2. Mr. J. R. D. Tata suggested to me that it might be desirable to open a Prime Minister’s Relief Fund or a National Relief Fund, which would attract attention on a consid- erable scale, as there was a great desire to help the refugees from the Punjab and elsewhere.

3. The questions that arise are: (i) Should such an official or semi-official fund be started? (ii) Should it be a kind of general distress relief fund which could give help in many emergencies, or should it be confined to relief of refugees, i.e., to the_ present emergency, that has arisen in the Punjab and else- where. In any event of course the fund would at present be principally or almost entirely con- cerned with the present emergency. (iii) What should be the name of the fund? (iv) Who should be holding the fund and what should be the man- agement of it? Should the trustees be appointed in their personal capacity or in their official capacity?

4. I should like to consult my col- leagues in regard to these matters before taking any step. I might men- tion that I have consulted Gandhiji and he is in favour of some such fund being started. He is also of opinion that the trustees should be appoint- ed by virtue of their official position and not personally.

5. If some such fund is started, then it is desirable to do it on a big scale so as to attract public attention.

6. Having given some thought to this matter, I feel that it would be desirable to have some such fund. Money comes to the Prime Minister as such and it would be proper to send it to a special fund rather than to non-official funds. I think also that the fund should not be limited in scope, but might be used for any type of distress or emergency relief. But it is clear and it should be stated that the immediate use of the fund must necessarily be for relief of the refugees from the Punjab, North West Frontier, Sind, etc.

7. The name of the fund might be any one of the following: (i) National Relief Fund (ii) Prime Minister’s Fund for Relief of Distress (iii) Prime Minister’s National Relief Fund (iv) National Relief Fund for Refugees {This would rather limit the scope) or any like name.

8. The trustees of the fund should not be too many. Among them should be: (i) Prime Minister (ii) Deputy Prime Minister (iii) Finance Minister (iv) President of the Congress (v) Chief Justice of India (vi) A representative of the Tata trustees (vii) A representative of industry & commerce, to be chosen by the Chambers of Commerce. One or two other names might be added of persons in their repre- sentative capacities. It is to be con- sidered whether the Governor General should also be a trustee. Probably it would be desirable for him to be there.

9. Apart from the trustees there might be a managing committee which might include the Prime Ministers of the provinces and possi- bly one or two additional ministers of the Central Government.

10. These are some suggestions to be considered.

11. I might mention that the con- tributions I have been receiving during the last two or three weeks, without any appeal or attempt on my part, now amount to about one lakh of Rupees. I have opened a tem- porary account in the bank where these moneys have been deposited.

(The note reproduced above is taken from the Rajendra Prasad Papers, N.A.I., cited in the Selected Works of Jawaharlal Nehru, Second Series, Volume 4, pp187-189.) Selected and edited by Mridula Mukherjee, former Professor of History at JNU and former Director of Nehru Memorial Museum and Library.