The Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) is receiving flak for its failure to utilize ₹7.5 crore collected under Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) during the Covid-19 pandemic. These funds, donated by various companies to improve healthcare facilities in civic hospitals, remain unused. Activists have raised concerns about the administration’s inefficiency in handling such resources.
Activist Vivek Velankar expressed his disappointment, stating, “Despite the hardships faced by citizens during the pandemic, the PMC failed to utilize the donated funds. This negligence raises serious concerns about the administration’s accountability. The civic body is taking people’s generosity for granted.”
₹7.43 unused
In March 2020, at the peak of the Covid-19 crisis, PMC appealed to citizens and corporations to contribute towards strengthening healthcare infrastructure.
This appeal resulted in donations of ₹4.89 crore in 2020-21 and ₹3.10 crore in 2021-22. However, not a single rupee from the 2020-21 fund was spent, while only ₹1.30 crore from the 2021-22 contributions was utilized for purchasing hospital beds and oxygen supplies. The remaining funds earned ₹70 lakh in interest, and ₹7.43 crore now remains unused in the Covid-19 CSR account.
In July 2023, Velankar obtained information about this matter under the Right to Information (RTI) Act. However, as of the latest RTI update, no significant steps have been taken to utilize these funds in the past 18 months.
Velankar has further demanded that, “The unused ₹7.43 crore be allocated towards upgrading medical facilities in PMC-run hospitals and clinics so that underprivileged patients can get better healthcare in Pune.”
PMC Health Chief, Dr Neena Borade, did not respond when contacted for a comment. Free Press Journal