Monday 20th March 2023
Since the SAARC COVID-19 Emergency Response Fund initiation, the Indian Government has disbursed a total of INR 138.9 million (NPR 222.31 million) to the member nations.
As per the information provided by the Indian Government in response to an RTI application, among the SAARC countries, Nepal got the lion’s share of the funding while Pakistan got nil.
On June 19, 2020, Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative (CHRI) lawyer Shikha Chhibbar had filed an RTI query with MEA seeking details of funds disbursed from the total contribution of USD 10 million by India for the SAARC COVID-19 Fund. She received a response on July 16, 2020, which did not feature details of funds disbursed to individual countries.
The MEA furnished the details of the funds disbursed when Chhibbar filed the first appeal on September 29, 2020.
According to the details furnished by MEA, medical supplies, including essential medicines and equipment, worth INR 61.2 million (NPR 97.95 million) were provided to Nepal, which was the biggest beneficiary of the funds disbursed by India.
A Glance at the funds disbursed to individual countries:
| SAARC Nation | COVID-19 Emergency Funds Disbursed by India |
| Nepal | INR 61.2 million |
| Bangladesh | INR 36.4 million |
| Bhutan | INR 16.9 million |
| Sri Lanka | INR 15.5 million |
| Maldives | INR 6.014 million |
| Afghanistan | INR 2.93 million |
| Pakistan | 0 |
| Total | INR 138.9 million |
During a video conference of the SAARC leaders on combating COVID-19 on March 15, Indian PM Narendra Modi proposed creating the COVID-19 Emergency Fund based on voluntary contributions by SAARC countries. The Indian Government made an initial contribution of USD 10 million to support the initiative.
| SAARC Nation | COVID-19 Emergency Fund Contribution |
| Nepal | NPR 100,000,000 (USD 831,393.45) |
| Bangladesh | USD 1,500,000 |
| Bhutan | USD 100,000 |
| India | USD 10,000,000 |
| Sri Lanka | USD 5,000,000 |
| Maldives | USD 200,000 |
| Afghanistan | USD 1,000,000 |
| Pakistan | USD 3,000,000 |
| Total | INR 138.9 million |
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