The Congress party has been facing severe criticism for their soft corner to China despite India lost its 20 brave soldiers in the Galwan valley clash.
The Congress party’s links with China is being slowly exposed by media and the ruling party Bharatiya Janata Party. Earlier, it was reported that the Rajiv Gandhi Foundation, headed by Congress interim President Sonia Gandhi had received donations from not just the Embassy of China but also the Government of China not once but at least thrice between 2005 and 2009.
One donation amounted to Rs 10 lakh while the other Rs 90 lakh. When these reports emerged, BJP has launched attack on the Congress party and been questioning them for their favouring statement for the Communist nation. Is it because of the monetary transactions between Congress and China?
According to latest findings by OpIndia an analysis of the Annual Returns of the Foundation showed that multiple government departments, ministries and Public Sector Undertakings ‘donated’ to Rajiv Gandhi Foundation between the years 2005 and 2013.
Government Departments and Ministries that donated to Rajiv Gandhi Foundation:
- Ministry of Home Affairs (2005-06, 2006-07, 2007-08, 2008-09)
- Directorate of Adult Education, Ministry of Human Resource (2005-06, 2006-07, 2007-08, 2008-09)
- Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (2005-06, 2006-07, 2007-08, 2008-09)
- Ministry of Environment and Forest (2005-06, 2006-07, 2007-08, 2008-09)
- Ministry of Small Scale Industries (2007-08, 2008-09)
- National Self Employment Mission, a project by the Ministry of Rural Development (2008-09, 2010-11)
- Sabla by Ministry of Women and Child Development (2011-12, 2012-13)
Public Sector Undertakings that donated to Rajiv Gandhi Foundation:
- LIC (2005-06)
- SAIL (2005-06)
- GAIL (India) Limited (2005-06, 2006-07, 2007-08, 2008-09, 2009-11, 2010-11, 2011-12, 2012-13)
- OIL India Limited (2005-06, 2006-07)
- Oriental Bank of Commerce (2005-06)
- SBI (2005-06, 2006-07, 2007-08, 2008-09, 2010-11, 2011-12, 2012-13)
- Bank of Maharashtra (2006-07, 2007-08, 2008-09, 2009-11)
- Housing and Urban Development Corporation Limited HUDCO (2006-07)
- ONGC (2006-07, 2007-08, 2008-09, 2009-11, 2010-11, 2011-12, 2012-13)
- IDBI Bank (2006-07)
- Steel Authority of India Ltd (2007-08, 2008-09, 2009-11, 2010-11, 2011-12, 2012-13)
The trustees of the foundation include, Rahul Gandhi, Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, Manmohan Singh and P Chidambaram.
Not only that, the Union budget document of 1991-92 made by Manmohan Singh also had another provision. It stated that a sum of Rs 100 crores will be donated to the Rajiv Gandhi Foundation over the period of 5 years.
The amount was to fund the initiatives of “Research and action programmes relating to the application of science and technology for development, propagation of literacy, the protection of the environment, the promotion of communal harmony and national integration, the uplift of the under-privileged, women and handicapped persons, administrative reforms and India’s role in the global economy.”
The section 58 of the budget document read, “Pending determination of the exact amounts that will be necessary for each of these new initiatives, a lump sum provision of Rs.250 crores has been included in the plan outlay of the Ministry of Finance.”
