New twist in PM Cares Fund tale: It’s controlled by govt but doesn’t fall under RTI

The government seems to be confused about PM CARES Fund entity. In a new RTI reply the central government has now said that Prime Minister-CARES fund set up for Coronavirus donations is "established by the government" and a public entity. This reply to the RTI query contradicts the government’s recent claim on its website that the fund is private.

According to a report by NDTV, in the RTI reply, the Modi government has said that PM-CARES is a body "owned by, controlled by and established by the government of India" but does not come under the RTI or Right to Information law as it receives private funds.

"This fund is completely financed by donations received from individuals/organisations/CSRs (Corporates)/foreign individuals/foreign organisations/PSUs and not at all financed by the appropriate government and administered by private individuals as trustees, which is a compulsory condition to invoke section 2(h) of the Right to Information Act, therefore, PM CARES fund cannot be considered a public authority," RTI reply of December 24 said.

However, according to a trust deed under which PM Cares fund was established on March 27, it was not owned or controlled by the government.

The document has created more confusion over PM-CARES after a contradiction emerged in official documents. It now appears that while the fund has been designated as a government entity that receives crores from various donors, it is not bound to disclose them as required for such organisations, reported NDTV

According to a report in NDTV on December 16, PM-CARES trust has been registered with the revenue department of Delhi, with Prime Minister as chairperson and senior ministers as trustees. However, the trust deed made public recently on the fund's website does not define it as a government trust.

"The trust is neither intended to be or is in fact owned, controlled or substantially financed by any government or any instrumentality of the government. There is no control of either the central government or any state governments, either direct or indirect, in the functioning of the trust in any manner whatsoever,” says point 5.3 of the Deed.

Prime Minister's Citizen Assistance and Relief in Emergency Situations Fund was set up by PM Modi in March to "deal with emergency or distress situations like the coronavirus pandemic".

PM Cares trust was registered on March 27. On March 28, the Ministry of Corporate Affairs issued an office memorandum qualifying PM-CARES as a corporate social responsibility (CSR) initiative to receive corporate donations.

Companies Act defines eligibility for corporate donations as: "Contribution to the Prime Minister's National Relief Fund or any other fund set up by the Central Government or the State Governments for socio-economic development and relief and funds for the welfare of the Scheduled Castes, the Scheduled Tribes, other backward classes, minorities and women."