The PM CARES Fund has had three new trustees nominated by the central government: veteran industrialist Ratan Tata, former Supreme Court justice K.T. Thomas, and former deputy Lok Sabha speaker Kariya Munda.

Following the COVID-19 epidemic in India, the Prime Minister's Citizen Assistance and Relief in Emergency Situations Fund (PM CARES Fund) was established as a specialised fund on March 27, 2020 (and registered as a Public Charitable Trust).

The fund's stated goal is to fight the coronavirus outbreak and other future emergency or distress situations while also containing them and providing relief.

The Prime Minister of India is the ex-officio Chairman of the PM CARES Fund, according to the Government of India, even though the paperwork establishing the fund's constitution has not been made available to the public.

Ex-officio Trustees of the Fund include the ministers of defence, home affairs, and finance.

The Prime Minister, who serves as the Board of Trustees' Chairperson, has the power to appoint three trustees to the board.

Any trustee selected must work for a nonprofit organisation.

As required, the PMO offers the Trustees secretarial and administrative support for managing and running the Trust.

The fund receives no budgetary support and is exclusively funded by voluntary contributions from individuals or organisations.

The Income Tax Act of 1961 would completely exclude donations to the PM CARES Fund.

In accordance with the Companies Act of 2013, contributions to the PM CARES Fund will also be considered Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) expenses.

The Foreign Contribution Regulation Act (FCRA) exemption for the PM CARES Fund has also been granted, and a separate account has been set up to accept donations from abroad.

Regarding the Prime Minister's National Relief Fund, this is consistent (PMNRF).

Since 2011, PMNRF has also taken international contributions in its capacity as a public trust.

The PM CARES Fund's corpus nearly tripled to 10,990 crores in the 2020–21 fiscal year, while disbursals rose to 3,976 crores, according to the most recent audited statement.

The PM CARES Fund has so far given out about Rs. 4000 crore for the following projects:

₹2000 Crore: for the delivery of 50,000 ventilators "Made in India" to government hospitals managed by the centre, the states, or the UTs.

$1 billion: For the care of migratory workers (money given to state and local governments).

More than 1,392 crore was spent on the purchase of Covid vaccination doses.

The PM CARES Fund was used to assist develop the PM CARES for Children programme. Currently, 4,345 kids are supported by this programme.

On May 29, 2021, the PM CARES for Children programme was introduced.

It was created to assist kids who, beginning on March 11, 2020, lost both of their biological parents, legal guardians, adoptive parents, or parents through death to the COVID-19 epidemic.

Lack of responsibility and transparency in the organization's foundation, operations, and finances.

The fund is undergoing a private audit, and neither the exact sum donated nor the names of donors have been made public.

The Government first asserted that the Fund is a private fund and is exempt from the requirements of the Right to Information (RTI) Act 2005, despite the fact that the Fund uses government facilities and the national anthem.

Later, the government changed its tune and acknowledged that the PM CARES Fund was a public fund, but it still refused to comply with the RTI Act 2005 by disclosing information about it.

Source: The Hindu