PM CARES Fund administered like PM’s National Relief Fund, HC told

Subject: Schemes

Concept:

The Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) has told the Delhi High Court that the PM CARES Fund is administered in a similar pattern as that of the Prime Minister’s National Relief Fund (PMNRF) as both are chaired by the Prime Minister.
The PMO has held that the PM CARES Fund, which was created in 2020 in the wake of the COVID pandemic, cannot be considered a government fund as the donations to it do not flow into the Consolidated Fund of India.
The PMO has further added that the PM CARES Fund has been created as a “Public Charitable Trust,” and no third-party information can be parted with irrespective of its status.
Petitions have been filed in the courts of India seeking to declare the PM CARES Fund a “State” under the Constitution and also to declare PM CARES as a “public authority” under the Right to Information (RTI) Act.

About PM CARES Fund:

The Prime Ministers Citizen Assistance and Relief in Emergency Situations Fund (PM CARES Fund) was created on 28 March 2020, following the COVID-19 pandemic in India.
It was created for combating, and containment and relief efforts against the coronavirus outbreak and similar pandemic like situations in the future.
It has been registered as a Public Charitable Trust.

Objectives:

To provide assistance and relief to all the affected persons in the event of any calamity, disaster, public health emergency or any other emergency of any kind that may be either natural or man-made.
Creation as well as upgradation of any pharmaceutical facilities, funding a research, creation or upgradation of any necessary infrastructure, healthcare support or any other kind of support.

Composition of the Trust:

Prime Minister is the ex-officio Chairman of the PM CARES Fund.
Minister of Defence, Minister of Home Affairs and Minister of Finance, Government of India are ex-officio Trustees of the Fund.
The Trust Deed of the Fund gives the Chairman of the Board of Trustees, i.e. the Prime Minister, the power to nominate three Trustees to the Board of Trustees.

Contributions:

The fund consists entirely of voluntary contributions from individuals/organizations and does not get any budgetary support.
The contributions to the Fund can be from any individuals or any organizations including companies, other charitable institutions, associations, etc.
PM CARES Fund allows option for Micro donation, one can donate as low as Rs 10 in the PM CARES Fund.
Donations to PM CARES Fund would qualify for 80G benefits for 100% exemption under the Income Tax Act.
Donations to PM CARES Fund will also qualify to be counted as Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) expenditure under the Companies Act, 2013.
It has also got exemption under the FCRA. This enables PM CARES Fund to accept donations and contributions from individuals and organizations based in foreign countries.