Tamil Nadu Opposition ADMK party has on Monday come forward to donate Rs 1 crore to the Chief Minister's Public Relief Fund (CMPRF) to fight against the COVID-19 pandemic. The announcement from the party has come on a day when actors Rajinikanth and Vikram had donated Rs 50 lakhs and Rs 30 lakhs respectively to the relief fund in supporting the government in combating the pandemic.

By announcing Rs 1 crore donation, ADMK's Coordinator Panneerselvam and Joint Coordinator Edappadi Palaniswami said that the party's elected members in the Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly will also donate one month's salary to CMPRF. ADMK has  66 MLAs in the current assembly and as per the announcement, all of them will be contributing their one-month salary to the fund. Along with the MLAs, the MPs will also be donating their one-month salary to the relief fund. 

In a joint statement, both the leaders said, "In order to provide medical facilities and necessary relief measures to the people of Tamil Nadu who have been severely affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, Rs 1 crore will be donated to the Chief Minister's Public Relief Fund by the AIADMK." The statement has also underlined that the party had donated Rs 1 crore to the CM's fund last year when the state government was fighting the pandemic. 

On Monday, Superstar Rajinikanth has met Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin at the Chief Secretariat in Chennai and donated Rs 50 lakhs to the CMPRF. While addressing the reporters after meeting the Chief Minister, Rajinikanth has appealed to the people to adhere to the government's guidelines and restrictions to beat the Coronavirus pandemic. After learning that Rajinikanth had donated for fighting the menace, several fans had commended him for lending his contribution. 

Actor Vikram had on Monday made an online contribution of Rs 30 lakhs to the relief fund while Sun TV group had donated Rs 10 crore. Rajinikanth's donation has come days after his younger daughter Soundarya had donated Rs 1 crore. Soundarya Rajinikanth has on May 14 donated the money to the relief fund by handing over the cheque to Chief Minister Stalin. Last Friday, actor Ajith has contributed Rs 25 lakhs to CMPRF, and reputed actor Sivakumar and his sons' actors Suriya and Karthi had met Chief Minister MK Stalin at the Chief Secretariat on May 12 and handed over a cheque worth Rs 1 crore. 

Besides the actors, Tamil Nadu Governor Banwarilal Purohit had donated Rs 1 crore and his one month's salary to the relief fund and the political parties had said that they will be donating to the relief fund from the MLAs and MPs Local Area Development funds. On Sunday, Tamil Nadu has reported 33,181 fresh COVID-19 cases, the highest single-day rise recorded by the state since the outbreak began. The state has also reported 21,317 discharges and 311 deaths. Overall, Tamil Nadu has recorded 15,98,216 COVID-19 cases so far as of Sunday of which 2,19,342 are active, 13,61,204 have been discharged, and 17,670 had succumbed to the viral infection. 

கழகத்தின் சார்பில் கொரோனா நோய் தடுப்பு மற்றும் நிவாரணப் பணிகளுக்காக முதலமைச்சரின் பொது நிவாரண நிதிக்கு 1 கோடி ரூபாயும், கழக நாடாளுமன்ற, சட்டமன்ற உறுப்பினர்களின் ஒரு மாத ஊதியமும் வழங்கப்படும். pic.twitter.com/kwr8ueLUFE

— AIADMK (@AIADMKOfficial) May 17, 2021