'Unprecedented' Rs 7cr raised on govt forum to help martyrs' families

February 17, 2019 09:38

The 'Bharat Ke Veer' contribution platform, that collects public funds for Central Armed Police Forces personnel killed in action, has got 'unprecedented' donations of over Rs 7 crore following the Pulwama terror attack, officials said on Saturday.

Officials manning the online portal of the Union Home Ministry have also asked citizens to 'desist' from donating money for the slain men in uniform at any other platform except the 'Bharat Ke Veer'.

"We have received unprecedented donations at the online portal in the last 36 hours and the amount is over Rs 7 crore," Border Security Force Inspector General (IG) Amit Lodha told PTI.

He said, "Never in the two year history of this benevolent public fund for CAPF martyrs, such a huge contribution has come in such a short time.

"We are grateful to the people of the country for expressing their solidarity with the martyrs."

The IG, who supervises the activity of the portal, said it was getting as many as '20,000 hits per second' post the Pulwama attack which claimed the lives of 41 Central Reserve Police Force jawans.

The CRPF personnel were killed and five injured in one of the deadliest terror attacks in Jammu and Kashmir on Thursday, when a Jaish-e-Mohammed suicide bomber rammed a vehicle carrying over 100 kg of explosives into their bus in Pulwama district.

The home ministry also acknowledged the contributions made by the common people.

In a message, the ministry said, "The Ministry of Home Affairs expresses gratitude for the overwhelming support for Pulwama martyrs on Bharat Ke Veer, our web portal for your donations."

"The portal is experiencing a heavy surge of visitors due to which it is slowing down. We request patience while we work on technical solutions," it said.

Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh also cautioned people against falling prey to platforms seeking fake donations.

"It is also reported that some unscrupulous elements are soliciting contributions from people through other accounts.

"It is advised that people desirous of supporting families of martyrs of CAPFs should only contribute through the website bharatkeveer.gov.in," the home minister tweeted.

The State Bank of India has also created a UPI for the Bharat Ke Veer initiative to help people make their monetary contributions easily, the BSF IG said.

Bharat Ke Veer, the fund-raising initiative, was launched in April 2017 by the Union Home Ministry, under whose command these paramilitary or CAPF's function.

Till last month, an amount of Rs 45.32 crore was received in the corpus of this fund, a senior official said.

Anyone can contribute to the fund through the BKV mobile app or the website.

All contributions are exempt from income tax as per government rules. -- PTI

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