Gyan Pathak
That “PM CARES” was conceived by Prime Minister Narendra Modi himself as a propaganda term during the outbreak of COVID-19 crisis in March 2020, to boost his public image is no secret.
The term was then made acronymous for “Prime Minister’s Citizen Assistance and Relief in Emergency situation” and was launched on March 27, 2020, just after the announcement of lockdown in the evening of March 24, 2020. It was created separately from PM National Relief Fund, just to avoid public scrutiny of the fund, as the opposition had alleged. Now six years after we realise that PM Narendra Modi loved to park the donation money in fixed deposits in banks more than helping people in distress.
The glaring example has come to light when audit statement of PM CARES Fund for 2024-25 has been made public. The PM CARES Fund received a total of Rs1279.9 crore during the financial year but it spent only Rs87.85 lakh, as per the audited financial statement. The total amount available with PM CARES fund was Rs 8,542 crore, out of which Rs 7,847 crore (about 93 per cent) was parked in fixed deposit in banks, while Rs 605 crore was kept in a savings account. It clearly shows the preference of the Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who tried to make the people of the country to believe that the PM cares, but the reality seems to be quite different.
Ever since PM CARES Fund was established it remained controversial chiefly due to its establishment as a private fund under a trust, though it used national emblem “Lion Capital of Ashoka at Sarnath” with “Satyameva Jayate” written in the base, the name of the office of the Prime Minister of India. It was clearly to avoid CAG audit, and to prevent information to the public under the RTI act. It was not established as a public institution, thought donations were requested and received under the name of Prime Minister of India. The funds collected are used at the discretion of the Prime Minister and the Fund’s trustees, and do not form a part of the Government of India’s accounts.
Prime Miniter’s office does not give information regarding the usage of the funds received on regular basis. Audit report for the initial years up to 2022-23 were released after much delay, and after a gap of two years audited statements for FY 2023-24 and FY 2024-25 were made public in August 18, 2026. It is a clear example of opacity in the use of the funds, and due to lack of transparency in the absence of public audit statements well after the FY2022-23, it attracted public criticism.
One of the criticisms was that why a fund, which accepts public money, including Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) contributions from public sector undertakings and donations from others, should be kept out of the purview of the public audit, though this private fund is made to seem like a public authority. It was dishonesty, the critics argued.
Another controversy was related to the Prime Minister’ being the chairman of the fund in his ex officio capacity and the Union Cabinet Ministers being its trustees. PM CARES always maintained and refused information to the RTI applicants on the ground that the trust was not a public authority under the RTI Act.
PM office was used to receive donations by even amending laws, such as the rules under the Ministry of Corporate Affairs, that too retrospectively. It also attracted criticism because its activities were made beyond public accountability, depending only on discretion (whether right or wrong) of the Prime Minister Narendra Modi as its chairman.
The total income of PM CARES in 2020-21 was Rs 7,913.5 crore but it spent only Rs 3,976.2 crore. The Fund received Rs 2,116.2 crore and spent Rs 3,716.3 crore. During 2022-23 it received Rs 1,305.9 crore but spent only Rs 437.9 crore, in 2023-24 it received Rs 904.9 crore but spent only Rs15.6 crore, and in 2024-25 it received Rs1279.9 crore but spent only 0.9 crore only. Cumulatively, the fund has spent less than one-fifth about only 18.4 per cent of its total income between its inception in March 2020 to March 31, 2025. In the financial year 2024-25 it spent only 0.01 per cent of its closing fund.
It goes without saying that the usage of the fund has been abysmally low, while large number of people are in distress due to natural and man-made disasters. Depositing 93 per cent of funds in fixed deposits in banks after receiving it as donation in the name of helping the needy in emergency situations does not seem to be ethically or morally right. It reveals how much PM cares for the people of the country and how much for making the bank deposits swell in the name of giving relief to the people undergoing great adversities. (IPA Service)
