PM CARES

• IAS NEXT, Lucknow
• 28, Mar 2022

Reference News:-

The Supreme Court has refused to entertain an appeal challenging an Allahabad High Court order which rejected a challenge to the constitutional validity of the PM-CARES Fund.

What’s the issue?

• The High Court had dismissed the PIL which challenged the validity of the PM-CARES Fund and the Prime Minister National Relief Fund in the backdrop of the Disaster Management Act, 2005.
• The petitioner had contended that the fund was established without statutory backing and was kept beyond the scrutiny of the RTI Act.

Issues surrounding the fund and its functioning:

PM CARES has been under a cloud of suspicion ever since it was announced, with opposition parties demanding transparency over the handling of the funds. 

About PM-CARES:

The Prime Minister’s Citizen Assistance and Relief in Emergency Situations (PM-CARES) Fund was set up to accept donations and provide relief during the Covid-19 pandemic, and other similar emergencies.

PM-CARES Fund:

• PM-CARES was set up as a public charitable trust with the trust deed registered on March 27, 2020.
• It can avail donations from the foreign contribution and donations to fund can also avail 100% tax exemption.
• PM-CARES is different from the Prime Minister’s National Relief Fund (PMNRF).

Who administers the fund?

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

• In 2021, the Delhi High Court was informed that the PM CARES Fund is not a Government of India fund and that the amount collected by it does not go to the Consolidated Fund of India.