PM CARES Fund

The Prime Minister's Citizen Assistance and Relief in Emergency Situations Fund (PM CARES Fund) was created on 28 March 2020, following the COVID-19 pandemic in India. The fund will be used for combating, and containment and relief efforts against the coronavirus outbreak and similar pandemic like situations in the future. The Prime Minister of India is the chairman of the fund. Trustees include the Minister of Defence, Minister of Home Affairs and Minister of Finance in the Government of India.[1][2][3]

PM CARES Fund
Prime Minister’s Citizen Assistance and Relief in Emergency Situations Fund
Formation28 March 2020 (2020-03-28)
HeadquartersPrime Minister's Office, South Block, New Delhi
Members
Chairman (PM)
Narendra Modi (ex-officio chariman)
Websitepmcares.gov.in

The fund will also enable micro-donations.[4] The minimum donation accepted for the PM CARES Fund is ₹10 (14¢ US).[5] The donations will be tax exempt and fall under corporate social responsibility (CSR).[6] The Prime Minister had said that the PMO had received many requests to help in the war against COVID-19. Accordingly, the fund was set up and will be used for disaster management and research.[7][8]

Incentives

Any contribution made to the PM CARES Fund before 30 June would qualify for a tax deduction under section 80G of The Income-tax Act, 1961.[6][9][10] The Ministry of Corporate Affairs announced that donations to the PM CARES fund would be counted as part of the statutory Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) obligation of the companies, with additional CSR being offset in subsequent years.[9] Donations made to the state governments' initiatives such as the Chief Minister's Funds do not qualify for the CSR obligation.[11]

Use

The first allocations from the fund were announced on 13 May.[12] Of a total of ₹3,100 crore, approximately ₹2,000 crore was allocated for the purchase of 50,000 ventilators, ₹1,000 crore for the support of migrant workers and ₹100 crore was to support the funding of a vaccine for COVID-19.[13][14]

Reception

The PM CARES fund[15] is different from the Prime Minister's National Relief Fund (PMNRF).[16] Following the creation of the fund opposition members raised many queries as to why a separate fund was needed, when it was registered, under which act and why it did not contain any members of civil society or opposition as part of the trust.[17][18] Chief Ministers of various states questioned about the preference for PM CARES over the individual relief funds of each state.[19]

Additionally, the Finance Ministry's Revenue Department requested its employees to compulsorily donate a single day's salary towards the fund every month till March 2021. The employees were requested to provide a written application if they were not willing to contribute, leading to the displeasure of some.[20][21]

Government officials clarified the PM CARES Fund was specifically dedicated to pandemic situations like that caused by COVID-19. The PMNRF, on the other hand, was meant for all types of natural disasters. The officials further stated that to spend from the Consolidated Fund of India, the Parliament's approval was required while a donation-based fund did not have any such legislative concerns. Other people believed that the setting up of a separate fund for a pan-India problem like this encouraged more people to contribute.[22]

The Supreme Court of India dismissed a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) filed by Manohar Lal Sharma for questioning the legality of the constitution of PM CARES Fund for COVID-19 by saying the petition as misconceived.[23]

Immediately after the fund was created, multiple fake accounts were found in circulation. While the original UPI accounts were pmcares@sbi and pmcares@iob, Delhi Police booked an individual for creating a UPI account removing the 's' called pmcare@sbi, intended to scam people.[24]

Officials working with the Comptroller and Auditor General of India stated that they were not allowed to audit the fund, since it was "based on donations of individuals and organisations". The government stated that "independent auditors who will be appointed by the trustees" would audit the fund. The PMNRF is treated in a similar manner.[19][25] However, unlike the PMNRF which includes the Prime Minister as the Chairman and a Joint Secretary to the Prime Minister as the Secretary of the fund[26], the PM CARES Fund is opaque until independent auditors are appointed.[27]

Additionally, the Prime Minister's Office (PMO) refused to disclose details regarding the PM CARES Fund's creation and operation, as part of an application made under the Right to Information Act, 2005. The PMO stated that the Fund was "not a public authority" the RTI Act.[28]

See also

References
  1. Roy, Divyanshu Dutta (ed.). "PM Modi Announces New COVID-19 Fund, Gets Rs 25 Crore From Akshay Kumar". NDTV. Retrieved 29 March 2020.
  2. "People urged to donate generously in PM CARES fund; PM Modi says every contribution matters". newsonair.com. Retrieved 29 March 2020.
  3. "PM Narendra Modi announces PM-CARES fund to fight coronavirus outbreak". Business Standard India. PTI. 29 March 2020. Retrieved 29 March 2020.CS1 maint: others (link)
  4. Sharma, Sandhya (29 March 2020). "Cyber chief's warning as hackers target PM's Covid fund". The Economic Times. Retrieved 30 March 2020.
  5. "PM CARES Fund better suited to deal with coronavirus crisis, say legal experts". www.businesstoday.in. Retrieved 31 March 2020.
  6. "Donation to PM CARES Fund to be fully exempted section 80G of I-T Act". The Hindu @businessline. 31 March 2020. Retrieved 1 April 2020.
  7. "PM CARES Fund: All You Need to Know". DATAQUEST. 30 March 2020. Retrieved 31 March 2020.
  8. "PM Modi announces emergency relief fund for coronavirus fight and for the people". The Economic Times. 28 March 2020. Retrieved 31 March 2020.
  9. Noronha, Gaurav (31 March 2020). "Govt clarifies on company's contributions to PM CARES Fund above CSR limit". The Economic Times. Retrieved 31 March 2020.
  10. "Ordinance issued to make PM CARES donations tax free". The Economic Times. 1 April 2020. Retrieved 1 April 2020.
  11. "Donations to PM CARES allowed under CSR, but not to states or CMs: Corporate ministry". The Print. 11 April 2020.
  12. "Coronavirus | PM CARES makes first allocations". The Hindu. 13 May 2020. ISSN 0971-751X. Retrieved 15 May 2020.
  13. Sharma, Akhilesh; Prabhu, Sunil (13 May 2020). "Rs 3,100 Crore From PM CARES Fund Allocated For Ventilators, Migrants". NDTV. Retrieved 15 May 2020.
  14. Dutt, Anonna (14 May 2020). "Indian Covid-19 vaccine development to be backed by PM-CARES Fund". Hindustan Times. Retrieved 15 May 2020.
  15. "PM CARES Fund - PM's Citizen Assistance & Relief in Emergency Situations Fund". www.pmcares.gov.in. Retrieved 7 June 2020.
  16. "PM National Relief Fund | Prime Minister of India". www.pmindia.gov.in. Retrieved 6 June 2018.
  17. "Congress questions setting up of PM CARES Fund to deal with coronavirus". The Hindu. Special Correspondent. 30 March 2020. ISSN 0971-751X. Retrieved 31 March 2020.CS1 maint: others (link)
  18. "Transfer all money under PM-Cares to PMNRF: Sonia Gandhi". The Economic Times. 7 April 2020. Retrieved 8 April 2020.
  19. Prabhu, Sunil (24 April 2020). "PM CARES Fund Won't Be Checked By Government's Auditor, Say Sources". NDTV. Retrieved 25 April 2020.
  20. Saha, Manojit (20 April 2020). "Coronavirus | FinMin fiat to staff on monthly donations to PM-Cares". The Hindu. ISSN 0971-751X. Retrieved 25 April 2020.
  21. "FinMin Tells All Staff, Officers to Donate One Day's Salary Per Month to PM-CARES". The Wire. 20 April 2020. Retrieved 25 April 2020.
  22. Mondal, Dipak (31 March 2020). "PM CARES Fund better suited to deal with coronavirus crisis, say legal experts". Business Today. Retrieved 25 April 2020.
  23. "Misconceived Petition : SC Dismisses PIL Challenging PM CARES Fund". livelaw.in. 13 April 2020. Retrieved 13 April 2020.
  24. Ojha, Arvind (30 March 2020). "Delhi Police books fraudsters for making fake SBI account of PM's Covid-19 Relief Fund". India Today. Retrieved 30 March 2020.
  25. Khemka, Shreenath A. (22 April 2020). "The Legal Charter of PM CARES is Unsound, the Government Must Frame Rules At Once". The Wire. Retrieved 25 April 2020.
  26. "Prime Minister's National Relief Fund". Prime Minister's National Relief Fund. Retrieved 19 June 2020.
  27. "PM CARES Fund to Be Audited by 'Independent Auditors' Instead of CAG: Report". The Wire.
  28. Jebaraj, Priscilla (30 May 2020). "Coronavirus | PM CARES is not a public authority under RTI Act: PMO". The Hindu. ISSN 0971-751X. Retrieved 31 May 2020.
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