By: Khagesh KG
July 1 2020
Manmohan Singh did allocate a sum of Rs 100 crores from the Union Budget to the Rajiv Gandhi Foundation, but the order was withdrawn later.
Manmohan Singh did allocate a sum of Rs 100 crores from the Union Budget to the Rajiv Gandhi Foundation, but the order was withdrawn later.In 1991-92 when the Congress government was in power, then Finance Minister Manmohan Singh tried to allocate Rs 100 crores from the Union Budget to the Sonia Gandhi-headed Rajiv Gandhi Foundation. As a tribute to the late Shri Rajiv Gandhi and to support the Foundation's objectives, the Government decided to contribute Rs 100 crore to the Foundation by giving Rs 20 crores per annum for five years. Manmohan Singh had read a letter from the Rajiv Gandhi Foundation, where the Foundation had suggested that the best way to carry out this is for the Government to identify suitable projects and programs and fund them from the Foundation and implement them under the Government's supervision. However, following some protests and after various discussions in the parliament, Manmohan Singh stated that a sum of Rs 100 crores proposed in 1991-92 Budget, to disburse over a period of five years, will not be allocated to the Foundation. He also added that the Government would identify suitable projects and programs and fund them directly.