PM CARES fund received Rs. 912 crore contribution in year after Covid pandemic

Context: The PM Citizen Assistance & Relief in Emergency Situations Fund
received Rs. 912 crores in contributions during the financial year 2022-23 as
donations continued to pour in even after the covid pandemic. The PM CARES fund
received Rs. 909.64 crore as voluntary contributions and Rs. 2.57 crore as
foreign contributions during 2022-23, the latest year for which audited accounts
are available in public domain. The PM CARES fund was registered as a Public
Charitable Trust under the Registration Act, 1908 in New Delhi on March 27,
2020, three days after the lock down in the country in the wake of the Covid-19
pandemic.

Key points

·       Overview: The Central
Government has recently informed the Delhi High Court that PM CARES Fund is set
up as a public charitable trust and is not a public authority under RTI.

·       PM
CARES Fund: The Prime Ministers Citizen Assistance and Relief in Emergency
Situations Fund (PM CARES Fund) was created on 28 March 2020, following the
COVID-19 pandemic in India. It was created for combating, and containment and
relief efforts against the coronavirus outbreak and similar pandemic like
situations in the future.

Objectives - To aid and
relief to all the affected persons in the event of any calamity, disaster,
public health emergency or any other emergency of any kind that may be either
natural or man-made. Creation as well as upgradation of any pharmaceutical
facilities, funding a research, creation or upgradation of any necessary
infrastructure, healthcare support or any other kind of support.

Composition of
the Trust - Prime Minister is the ex-officio Chairman of the PM CARES Fund. Minister
of Defence, Minister of Home Affairs and Minister of Finance, Government of
India are ex-officio Trustees of the Fund.

Contributions - The fund
consists entirely of voluntary contributions from individuals/organizations and
does not get any budgetary support. Donations to PM CARES Fund would qualify
for 80G benefits for 100% exemption under the Income Tax Act, 1961. Donations
to PM CARES Fund will also qualify to be counted as Corporate Social
Responsibility (CSR) expenditure under the Companies Act, 2013.

Issues - Several
opposition leaders and other prominent people have questioned the need for
establishing a new fund when PMNRF already exists. Some have questioned the
opacity surrounding the PM-CARES fund as the trust deed has not been made
public. It is not known whether all members of the trust have voting rights or
not.

·       Prime
Minister's National Relief Fund (PMNRF): The Prime Minister's
National Relief Fund (PMNRF) was established in 1948 in pursuance of an appeal
by then PM Jawaharlal Nehru entirely with public contributions to mitigate the
consequences of untold disasters and consequent human flights to escape misery
and destitution.

·       Similarities
between PMNRF and PM CARES Fund: Parliament does not have to
approve spending from the PM CARES Fund or the PMNRF. Donations to both the
PMNRF and the PM CARES Fund are tax-deductible under Section 80G. Funds from PM
CARES and PMNRF cannot be used without the Prime Minister’s approval. Both
PMNRF and PM CARES are not funded by the government. Foreign contributions are
accepted by both PM CARES and PMNRF.