PM CARES Fund

PM CARES Fund
Prime Minister’s Citizen Assistance and Relief in Emergency Situations Fund
Formation27 March 2020; 4 years ago (2020-03-27)
HeadquartersPrime Minister's Office, South Block, New Delhi
Members
Chairman
K. T. Thomas, Kariya Munda, Ratan Tata
Websitepmcares.gov.in

The Prime Minister's Citizen Assistance and Relief in Emergency Situations Fund (PM CARES Fund) was created on 27 March 2020, following the COVID-19 pandemic in India. Although it is named for the Prime Minister of India, and uses the State Emblem of India, it is a private fund, used at the discretion of the Prime Minister and the Fund's trustees, and does not form a part of the Government of India's accounts.[1] The Fund was established for the purpose of redressing the COVID-19 pandemic in India, in 2020.[2][3][4] While complete documentation for the Fund's establishment has not been made public, the Government of India has stated that the Prime Minister of India, Narendra Modi, is the chairman of the fund, and that trustees include the Minister of Defence, Rajnath Singh; the Minister of Home Affairs, Amit Shah, the Minister of Finance, Nirmala Sitharaman, and several corporate leaders and industrialists, including Ratan Tata, and Sudha Murty.[5]

The total amount of funds donated and the names of donors have not been publicly disclosed, and the fund is privately audited. It is not subject to audits by India's Comptroller and Auditor General,[6] and the Government of India has denied access to documentation involving the fund under India's transparency law, the Right to Information Act, arguing that it is not a government fund and consequently not liable to disclose either earnings or spendings.[7][8][9][10] The Fund has collected financing through public donations from Indian citizens as well as foreign groups such as Russia's State-owned defence exports company Rosoboronexport.[11] It has also collected funding by substantial transfers of amounts allocated for corporate social responsibility in government-owned public sector corporations, universities, and banks as well as deductions from salaries of government employees.[12][13][14][15] Consequently, the PM CARES Fund has faced criticism for the lack of transparency and accountability in relation to its establishment, functioning, and accounts.[16][17] Substantial litigation regarding this is ongoing.[18][8]

While total accounts for the Fund have not been made public, and cannot be subject to transparency and disclosure laws, partial accounts released by the Fund as well as statements by government officials indicate that part of their corpus has been spent on procuring vaccines against COVID-19, as well as to purchase ventilators following large scale shortage of such facilities, as well as oxygen, during the COVID-19 pandemic in India.[19] While funds have been promised for vaccine development in 2020, these have not been allotted as of 2022, and two-thirds of the corpus remains unspent.[19] Additionally, ventilators purchased by the funds have been criticised over quality concerns, with several hospitals returning them as they were not usable for patients and government panels flagging quality issues.[20][21][22] Additionally, concerns have been raised about the processing of tendering, as several manufacturers were found to have no have had no experience in manufacturing ventilators before this.[23][24]

  1. ^ "PM-CARES Fund not a fund of Government of India, Delhi HC told". The Indian Express. 23 September 2021. Retrieved 31 October 2022.
  2. ^ Roy, Divyanshu Dutta (ed.). "PM Modi Announces New COVID-19 Fund, Gets Rs 25 Crore From Akshay Kumar". NDTV. Retrieved 29 March 2020.
  3. ^ "People urged to donate generously in PM CARES fund; PM Modi says every contribution matters". newsonair.com. Archived from the original on 29 March 2020. Retrieved 29 March 2020.
  4. ^ "PM Narendra Modi announces PM-CARES fund to fight coronavirus outbreak". Business Standard India. PTI. 29 March 2020. Retrieved 29 March 2020.[permanent dead link‍]
  5. ^ Livemint (21 September 2022). "Govt appoints Ratan Tata, 2 others as trustees of PM CARES Fund". mint. Retrieved 31 October 2022.
  6. ^ NETWORK, LIVELAW NEWS (18 August 2020). "No Occasion For CAG Audit Of PM CARES Fund As It Is A Public Charitable Trust: SC [Read Judgment]". www.livelaw.in. Retrieved 31 October 2022.
  7. ^ Cite error: The named reference firstpost.com was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  8. ^ a b "In top court, Centre defends creation of PM CARES Fund". The Indian Express. 10 July 2020. Retrieved 30 July 2020.
  9. ^ Cite error: The named reference :18 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  10. ^ "PM-CARES "Controlled By Government" But RTI Doesn't Apply: New Flip-Flop". NDTV.com. Retrieved 25 December 2020.
  11. ^ Cite error: The named reference Haidar was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  12. ^ Cite error: The named reference :28 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  13. ^ Cite error: The named reference :29 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  14. ^ Cite error: The named reference :20 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  15. ^ Cite error: The named reference :30 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  16. ^ The Curious Case of PM CARES Fund: Corporate Social Responsibility and the Suppression of Civil Society in India. International Journal of Social Science and Economic Research. Social Science Research Network (SSRN). Accessed 12 May 2021.
  17. ^ Government-Citizen Pandemic Relief Efforts: Case of India's PM CARES Fund. Public Economics: National Government Expenditures & Related Policies eJournal. Social Science Research Network (SSRN). Accessed 12 May 2021.
  18. ^ Cite error: The named reference :31 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  19. ^ a b Jebaraj, Priscilla (7 February 2022). "One-third of ₹10,990 crore in PM CARES fund spent: '20-'21 audit". The Hindu. ISSN 0971-751X. Retrieved 31 October 2022.
  20. ^ Cite error: The named reference :33 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  21. ^ Cite error: The named reference :34 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  22. ^ Cite error: The named reference :12 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  23. ^ "Company With No Ventilator Model Got Rs 373 Cr PM CARES Order To Make 10,000 Ventilators". HuffPost. 24 September 2020. Retrieved 31 October 2022.
  24. ^ Cite error: The named reference :35 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).