Fact-check: How much has the PM’s Flood Relief Fund received in donations?

Social media posts, which have received thousands of likes and retweets, claim that the fund set up by the prime minister, for flood survivors in Pakistan, has only managed to collect Rs800,000 to date.

They also allege that the committee set up by the prime minister, to oversee the collection and distribution of the funds, has been disbanded.

Both claims are false and misleading.

Claim

On December 13, a Twitter account posted the following tweet: “The Prime Minister’s Flood Relief has only collected Rs800,000 [for the flood victims]. The flood relief committee has also been deactivated.”

The tweet has, to date, received over 2,000 retweets and 9,500 likes.

The same text was shared by other social media accounts.

Fact

An official document, shared by the Prime Minister’s Office, shows that from August till December the Prime Minister’s Flood Relief Fund has actually received over Rs5 billion in donations, not merely Rs800,000.

The Prime Minister’s Flood Relief Fund was notified by the government in late August, for the relief and rehabilitation of survivors of the catastrophic floods in Pakistan, which have affected more than 33 million people and killed 1,700 people.

The State Bank of Pakistan then opened several bank accounts to collect contributions from domestic and international sources.

A State Bank of Pakistan document shared with Geo Fact Check states that Rs5,075,945,802 has been received in the government’s bank account till December 30.

Of the over Rs5 billion collected, Rs2.52 billion has been received through banks, Rs15.9 million through SMS donations, and Rs2.53 billion, from overseas.

A senior government official in Islamabad, who asked not to be named, told Geo Fact Check that the National Flood Response and Coordination Centre set up by the government in August has been dissolved as the primary purpose of the committee was to carry out rescue work.

“Since the phase of rescue and relief has ended the committee is no longer needed,” the official said, “Now we are in the reconstruction and rehabilitation phase.”

For which, he added, that the mandate has been given to the National Disaster Management Authority.

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