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Know the work of three trusts associated with Gandhi family, whose ministry will investigate funding
The Union Home Ministry has formed an inter-ministerial committee, which will investigate the Rajiv Gandhi Foundation, Rajiv Gandhi Charitable Trust and Indira Gandhi Memorial Trust. The committee will conduct an inquiry into alleged financial irregularities in the three trusts associated with the Gandhi family. In such a situation, we will tell what work these three trusts do.
- Home Ministry will investigate the trust associated with Gandhi family
- BJP made serious allegations on Gandhi family trust
The Union Home Ministry will conduct an inquiry into alleged trusts in three trusts belonging to the Gandhi family. The Home Ministry has formed an inter-ministerial committee for this, which will work to investigate the Rajiv Gandhi Foundation, Rajiv Gandhi Charitable Trust and Indira Gandhi Memorial Trust. The investigation will be headed by a special director of ED. It will be ascertained whether the two trusts belonging to the Gandhi family have violated the rules.
Actually, in the midst of the ongoing dispute between India and China, when the Congress party was continuously engaged in besieging the Modi government at the Center. In such a situation, it was alleged on behalf of BJP President JP Nadda that Rajiv Gandhi Foundation used to get funding from China. Not only this, Nadda said that Manmohan Singh had given 100 crore rupees to the foundation in the 1991 budget as finance minister. However, the Congress rejected these allegations and said that the BJP is making such allegations to divert attention from the issue of border dispute going on from China.
What is Rajiv Gandhi Foundation?
It was started by Sonia Gandhi on 21 June 1991 to fulfill the dream of former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi and to pursue her goals. Gandhi family works in the fields of Health, Education, Science and Technology, Women and Child Development, Divyang Cooperation, Physically Handicapped, Panchayati Raj, Natural Resource Management etc. through this foundation. Programs such as educational assistance to children affected by conflict, increasing mobility of physically challenged youth and financial assistance for meritorious Indian children to study in Cambridge etc. are run by the Foundation.
The functioning of the Rajiv Gandhi Foundation is run by the amount of donations. The foundation is headed by Sonia Gandhi. Former Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh, former Finance Minister and senior Congress leader P. Chidambaram, Montek Singh Ahluwalia, Suman Dubey, Rahul Gandhi, Dr. Shekhar Raha, Sanjeev Goenka and Priyanka Gandhi are trustees of the Foundation.
Formation of Rajiv Gandhi Charitable Trust
The Rajiv Gandhi Charitable Trust was formed in the year 2002. Its objectives include helping to meet the developmental needs of the underprivileged society of the country, especially the rural poor. This trust is currently working in the extremely backward areas of Uttar Pradesh and Haryana under the Rajiv Gandhi Women Development Project and Indira Gandhi Eye Hospital and Research Center projects. This trust is active for women empowerment in many states including Uttar Pradesh.
Work of Indira Gandhi Memorial Trust
The Indira Gandhi Memorial Trust was established in 1985 after the assassination of former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi in 1984. This trust works to propagate the ideals of the life of former PM Indira Gandhi as well as to preserve her memories. Through this trust, the Congress party does all the social work, from conducting research on the ideas of Nehru-Gandhi. Apart from this, every year the Indira Gandhi Memorial Trust holds a photo exhibition of former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi.
Since 1986, the Indira Gandhi Memorial Trust has been conferred the ‘Indira Gandhi Peace, Disarmament and Development Award’ every year to any person or organization in the world who has contributed significantly in social service, disarmament or development work. The award carries a cash prize of Rs 25 lakh, a trophy and a citation. Indira Memorial Trust has honored 30 international celebrities and institutions for outstanding work and achievements.
A written work must be published to be eligible for Indira Gandhi Peace Prize. German Chancellor Angela Merkel has been awarded the Indira Gandhi Peace Prize in 2013. Apart from this, in 2012, Liberia’s President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf and for the year 2011 social worker Ila Ramesh Bhatt were honored with Indira Gandhi Peace Prize.