Coronavirus | BJP MPs, MLAs To Donate Their One Month Salary To Central Relief Fund

Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) chief JP Nadda on Saturday announced that all MPs of BJP will release Rs 1 crore from their MPLADS (Members of Parliament Local Area Development Scheme) fund to the Central Relief Fund in support to fight against novel coronavirus.  "All MPs and MLAs of Bhartiya Janta Party will donate their one month remuneration /salary to the Central Relief Fund to support the fight against COVID-19," JP Nadda said.

The health ministry today held a press conference and informed that the total number of cases in India has surged to 873. On Friday, a total number of 149 new cases were reported. "Rigorous contact-tracing underway and the focus is on setting dedicated COVID-19 hospitals," the officials said.

JP Nadda on Friday had asked all party workers to help out the migrants left stranded due to the ongoing lockdown as he spoke to over 40,000 party members and several MPs to review the organisation's drive to help the poor. A statement said Nadda, who has been holding daily meetings with party leaders, dispatched 10 food packets for the poor as part of the BJP's announcement that its one crore workers will contribute food for a total of five crore needy people daily, the statement said.

The MPs with whom he spoke on Friday were from Delhi and Mumbai, two mega cities with huge migrant populations. The BJP president said his party workers have been coordinating with the local administration to help those struggling to reach their homes and the poor in getting food. There have been reports of a large number of migrants being left with little means to make a living after the lockdown, announced to combat the coronavirus pandemic, deprived them of their employment.

Many of them have been walking to their homes, hundreds of kilometers away, due to unavailability of public transport and the BJP said its local workers were coordinating with the administration to help them out. In tackling the coronavirus crisis, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has emerged as a "true global leader" and shown the way to the world, Nadda said.

He spoke to the party workers and MPs through audio and video conferences and also asked each of them to take care of at least one family with senior citizens, the statement said. The BJP president has been holding daily meetings with party leaders through audio and video conferences to oversee the party''s efforts to help the poor, it said.

(With agency inputs)