The donations to ‘Bharat ke Veer’ trust has been exempted from Income Tax. The trust was formed on April 9, 2017 by Union Home minister Rajnath Singh and Bollywood actor Akshay Kumar. Ministry of Finance has accepted ‘Bharat ke Veer’ trust under 80(G) which makes all donations to the trust tax free. “Ministry of finance @FinMinIndia has now given approval to @BharatKeVeer Trust under 80(G) of the Income Tax Act, 1961which in effect means that all contributions to the trust will be exempted under the income tax. I thank the ministry and FM Sh. @ArunJaitley for the exemption to #BharatKeVeer Trust (sic.)” tweeted Rajnath Singh.The trust was opened to help the families of paramilitary forces (Central Reserve Police Force, Border Security Force, Central Industrial Security Force, Indo-Tibetan Border Police Force, Sashastra Seema Bal, Assam Rifles, National Disaster Response Force and National Security Guards) which are under Ministry of Home Affairs.
There are seven trustees of the ‘Bharat ke Veer trust which is headed by Union Home Secretary. Bollywood actor Akshay Kumar and veteran badminton player and Coach Pullela Gopichand are part of the trust as trustees. “The @BharatKeVeer Trust has been formed with seven Trustees headed by the Union Home Secretary. Noted film actor Shri @akshaykumar and former National Badminton Champion, Pullela Gopichand have also been included in the Trust as Trustees (sic.) Rajnath Singh tweeted. The online portal of ‘Bharat ke Veer’ was launched to facilitate donations to families of Central Armed Police Forces (CAPFs) who sacrificed their life in the line of duty. The website (bharatkeveer.gov.in) and mobile application gives citizens platform to contribute to the families of martyrs.
There are many NGOs which work for welfare of the Armed forces (Army, Navy, Air Force, and Indian Coast Guards) like Sainik Welfare Organization, Lakshya Foundation, War Wounded Foundation, Army Wives Welfare Association, and Maruti Veer Jawan Trust. But the welfare activity infrastructure is not very robust for paramilitary troops. The network for welfare of armed forces has existed since the independence but for paramilitary forces, it was not so robust. This is because most of the Central Armed Police Forces were constituted much after independence for different kind of needs, like Border Security Force (BSF) was formed in 1965 for peacetime border defense. Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) was formed in 1962 in the wake of the Sino-Indian War of 1962. Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) is deployed for assisting the State/Union Territories in police operations to maintain law and order and counter insurgency. Assam Rifles, the oldest of paramilitary force of India, guards the Indo-Myanmar border and carries out counter insurgency and border security operations. National Security Guard (NSG) was constituted in 1984 after the assassination of Indira Gandhi. National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) was constituted under the Disaster Management Act, 2005 to look after threatening disaster situations. Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) provides security cover to industrial installations as well as to vital infrastructure such as airports and Delhi Metro.
The paramilitary forces do not participate in direct war conditions. But they are vital for internal security of India. So, it is very important to look after their welfare conditions. The much needed response from government came very late, but it will certainly help families of paramilitary from now on. ‘Bharat ke Veer’ is a right direction in that regard.
