Now, donate online for poor patients at PGI

Tribune News Service
Chandigarh, October 17

People can now donate funds for poor patients at the PGI while sitting at home as the institute has launched a facility for online donations on its website pgimer.edu.in.

On the main page of the website, under the head “patient care services”, a link by the name “donate for poor patients” leads the donor to a web page of the State Bank of India (SBI) online payments. After making a donation directly to the PGI’s Poor Patient Welfare Fund account, the person can download the receipt.

The Poor Patient Welfare Fund of the PGI receives donations from philanthropists of the tricity as well as those from nearby states.

Besides online help, donations are also accepted through cheques (drawn in favour of the Director, PGI) or cash at the poor patient cell near the main reception of Nehru Hospital. These are exempt under Section 80G of the Income Tax Act. The Poor Patient Welfare Fund account is audited annually.

According to the institute, in the 2015-16 fiscal, the PGI received a donation of Rs 36.90 lakh. There were a total of 1,728 beneficiaries and the total expenditure incurred on their treatment during this period was Rs 41.07 lakh. In 2016-17, the donation rose to Rs 59.06 lakh. The number of beneficiaries increased to 1,973 with Rs 76.41 as the total expenditure incurred on the treatment.