PM CARES Is Not GOI Fund, PM’s Office Clarifies

The Prime Minister of India office (PMO) has informed the Delhi High Court that the PM CARES Fund is not a Government of India fund. In August a petition on PM CARES Fund was filed by a lawyer named Samyak Gangwal.

In his petition Samyak mentioned that the PM CARES Fund was set up by the Prime Minister in March 2020 for a noble purpose of extending assistance to the citizens in wake of Covid-19 pandemic.

Advocate Samyak requested the court to declare PM CARES Fund a ‘State’ under Article 12 of the Constitution to ensure transparency. Regarding the same the Delhi High Court has asked the PM’s office to file an affidavit.

Pradeep Kumar Srivastava, Under Secretary at the PMO filed the counter affidavit and it says, PM CARES Fund works with utmost transparency and its funds are audited by an auditor by the Comptroller and Auditor General of India (CGI).

On the sanction of funds and transactions, the affidavit claimed that the audit report of PM CARES Fund is put on the official website along with the details of funds received and utilised.

But Samyak’s petition urged the court that if the PM CARES Fund is not a ‘State’ then it has to stop using PM’s photo and national emblem.

After the Under Secretary’s affidavit, the Bench of Chief Justice DN Patel and Justice Amit Bansal postponed the case to September 27th.

It’s shocking to know that the PM CARES Fund doesn’t belong to the government of India. During the second wave earlier this year, a lot of reports surfaced on the PM CARES Fund but the PMO remained utterly silent on media reports.