The Goa Government on Thursday announced financial assistance to the tune of Rs 1 crore for non-government organisations (NGOs) that are working for the welfare of downtrodden communities in the State.

The Chief Minister, Mr Digambar Kamat, told reporters that the corpus fund, with the contribution of corporate houses and State Government's funding, has been formed which will be used to finance the NGOs.

“Corporates have already committed funding to the tune of Rs 1 crore for the corpus, which will be increased depending on the requirements,” Mr Kamat said.

He said that the funding would be on case-to-case basis and for any NGO that is working in fields such as child care, for the aged, HIV infected and others, which need attention.

Mr Kamat was speaking to reporters on the sidelines of a function organised to disburse financial assistance of Rs 25 lakh each for 29 NGOs in the State, as announced in the recent State budget.

Earlier speaking in the function, the Chief Minister said that the budget proposal was the part of Golden Jubilee year initiative, which envisages to financially empower the organisations that are working for the welfare of the society.

The Goa Government has declared several initiatives to celebrate 50 years of liberation of the State from Portuguese rule.

Mr Kamat said that the proposal of providing finances to NGOs was the State Government's attempt to recognise various social service institutions that have work selflessly in this field for years together.

The scheme is being implemented through the State Art and Culture Department.

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