PM CARES Fund PM-CARES Fund: P Chidambaram attacks govt over 'generous donors' who donated Rs 3,076 crore in 5 days
New Delhi/IBNS: Former finance minister P Chidambaram on Wednesday questioned the government over the details of the domestic and foreign contributors or donors of the PM CARES fund, whose names have not been made public in the audited statement for the financial year 2020.
The government today uploaded the audited statement for FY20, recording donations between March 27 (the date of creation of the fund) and March 31.
The PM CARES fund started with an initial corpus of Rs 2.25 lakh and received Rs 3,076 crore in five days, of which Rs 3,075.85 crore came from domestic voluntary contribution and Rs 39.67 lakh was a foreign contribution.
The fund also received interest of Rs 35 lakh on this money.
However, the "accompanying notes 1 to 6" have not been made public, implying that the details of the domestic and foreign contributors or donors have also not been revealed by the government.
Attacking the government, former Finance Minister P Chidambaram asked why "these generous donors" were not revealed. "Why? Every other NGO or Trust is obliged to reveal the names of donors contributing more than a threshold amount. Why is the PM CARES FUND exempt from this obligation," he asked.
The auditors of PM CARES FUND have confirmed that the Fund received Rs 3076 crore in just 5 days between March 26 and 31, 2020.
— P. Chidambaram (@PChidambaram_IN) September 2, 2020
"The donee is known. The trustees of the donee are known. Why are the trustees afraid to reveal the names of the donors?" the senior Congress leader went on to question.
The donee is known. The trustees of the donee are known. Why are the trustees afraid to reveal the names of the donors?
— P. Chidambaram (@PChidambaram_IN) September 2, 2020
Last month, the Supreme Court dismissed a plea, seeking transfer of contributions made to the PM CARES Fund for battling the Covid-19 pandemic to the National Disaster Response Fund (NDRF).
The Apex Court bench, headed by Justice Ashok Bhushan, said voluntary contribution can always be made to the NDRF as there is no statutory bar under the Disaster Management Act.
While dismissing a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) filed by an NGO, the top court said no order could be issued for transferring money from the PM CARES.
An NDTV report said that the news organisation had filed an RTI application seeking “details of the PM-CARES Fund, including the trust deed” and it was rejected by the Prime Minister's Office (PMO) stating that "Fund is not a public authority under RTI Act".
PM-CARES or the Prime Minister's Citizen Assistance and Relief in Emergency Situations Fund is managed by a trust with PM Modi as its chairperson and senior cabinet members as trustees.
It was set up by PM Modi in March to "deal with emergency or distress situations like the coronavirus pandemic".
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