Knowledge Nugget | PM CARES Fund: What is it, who manages it and what data shows

Key Takeaways:

1. The PM CARES fund was set up on March 27, 2020, following the Covid outbreak with the primary objective of dealing with any kind of emergency or distress situation, like posed by the COVID-19 pandemic, and to provide relief to the affected.

2. The PM CARES Fund has been registered as a public charitable trust under the Registration Act, 1908. The Prime Minister is the ex-officio chairman of the Fund, while the Defence Minister, Home Minister and Finance Minister are ex-officio trustees.

3. The fund consists entirely of voluntary contributions from individuals/organizations and does not get any budgetary support.

4. The Fund’s website states: “Donations to PM CARES Fund would qualify for 80G benefits for 100% exemption under the Income Tax Act, 1961. Donations to the PM CARES Fund will also qualify to be counted as Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) expenditure under the Companies Act, 2013.”

5. PM CARES Fund has also got exemption under the FCRA and a separate account for receiving foreign donations has been opened. This enables PM CARES Fund to accept donations and contributions from individuals and organizations based in foreign countries.

6. PM CARES Fund is audited by an independent auditor. Notably, there is no statutory period prescribed for audit of the PM CARES under Income Tax Act. However, an audit will be conducted at the end of the Financial Year.

What do the latest PM CARES Fund accounts show?

1. According to the latest Receipt and Payment Accounts (Audited) statement available on the PM CARES Fund portal, domestic donations accounted for Rs 479.04 crore of the total contributions while foreign donations added up to about Rs 92 lakh.

2. The Fund also received Rs 475.14 crore as interest income (Rs 469.37 crore from fixed deposits, Rs 5.76 crore from regular accounts), about Rs 13.49 lakh as refund of tax deducted at source (TDS) on interest on fixed deposits from banks, and Rs 324.65 crore as “refund from implementing agencies”.

3. Meanwhile, the total spending fell to Rs 87.85 lakh, including Rs 87.84 lakh on the PM CARES for Children Scheme and Rs 451 as bank charges and SMS charges. The total spending was Rs 15.59 crore in 2023-24; Rs 437.87 crore in 2022-23; Rs 3,716.29 crore in 2021-22; and Rs 3,976.17 crore in 2020-21.

4. The closing balance touched an all-time high of Rs 8,452.06 crore at the end of 2024-25, marking an increase of 17.83 per cent as compared to the closing balance of Rs 7,173.03 crore at the end of 2023-24.

Are questions on PM CARES fund admissible in Lok Sabha?

1. As per the Exclusive story of The Indian Express, the Prime  Minister’s Office (PMO) has told the Lok Sabha Secretariat that Parliament questions and matters related to PM CARES Fund, the Prime Minister’s National Relief Fund (PMNRF) and the National Defence Fund (NDF) are not admissible under rules related to the conduct of business in Lok Sabha. 

2. It is learnt that on January 30 this year, the PMO told the Lok Sabha Secretariat that questions and matters related to the three funds are not permissible under Rule 41(2) (viii) and 41(2)(xvii) of the Rules of Procedure and Conduct of Business in Lok Sabha.

3. The reasoning for questions and matters not being admissible in Lok Sabha given by the PMO, it is learnt, was that the corpus of these funds is constituted entirely with voluntary public contribution and not from any allocation out of the Consolidated Fund of India.

FYI: What the Supreme Court has earlier said- On August 18, 2020, the Supreme Court had “refused” to order transfer of funds from the PM CARES Fund to the National Disaster Response Fund (NDRF), saying they “are two entirely different funds with different object and purpose” and “there is no occasion” for such a direction.

The apex court had also said guidelines specifically provide for audit of the NDRF by the Comptroller & Auditor General of India, but PM CARES Fund is a public charitable trust due to which “there is no occasion” for such an audit.

BEYOND THE NUGGET: PMNRF and NDF

1. The PMNRF was established in January 1948 with public contributions to assist displaced persons from Pakistan. The resources of the PMNRF are now utilized primarily to render immediate relief to families of those killed in natural calamities like floods, cyclones and earthquakes, etc., and to the victims of the major accidents and riots.

2. The fund consists entirely of public contributions and does not get any budgetary support. The corpus of the fund is invested with banks in fixed deposits. Disbursements are made with the approval of the Prime Minister.

3. PMNRF has not been constituted by the Parliament. The fund is recognized as a Trust under the Income Tax Act. PMNRF operates from the Prime Minister’s Office and does not pay any license fee. The Prime Minister is the Chairman of PMNRF and is assisted by Officers/ Staff on an honorary basis.

4. PMNRF is exempt under Income Tax Act, 1961 under Section 10 and 139 for return purposes. Contributions towards PMNRF are notified for 100% deduction from taxable income under section 80(G) of the Income Tax Act, 1961.

5. The Fund’s website states: “PMNRF accepts only voluntary donations by individuals and institutions. Contributions flowing out of budgetary sources of Government or from the balance sheets of the public sector undertakings are not accepted. Conditional contributions, where the donor specifically mentions that the amount is meant for a particular purpose, are not accepted in the Fund.”

National Defence Fund (NDF)

1. The NDF is used for the welfare of members of the Armed Forces, including paramilitary forces, and their dependents. The fund is administered by an Executive Committee, with the PM as Chairperson, and Defence, Finance and Home Ministers as Members, according to its official website.

2. The Finance Minister is the Treasurer of the Fund and the Joint Secretary, PMO dealing with the subject is Secretary of the Executive Committee.

3. Accounts of the Fund are kept with the Reserve Bank of India. The fund is entirely dependent on voluntary contributions from the public and does not get any budgetary support.

Post Read Question

Consider the following statements:

1. PM CARES Fund has been registered as a Public Charitable Trust.

2. The Prime Minister’s National Relief Fund has been constituted by the Parliament.

3. PM CARES Fund is audited by the Comptroller & Auditor General of India

Which of the statements given above is/are correct?

(a) 1 only

(b) 1 and 3 only

(c) 2 and 3 only

(d) 1, 2 and 3

Answer Key

(a)

(Sources: PM CARES Fund sees drop in donations, spending, pmcares.gov.in, pmindia.gov.in, Exclusive | Citing rules, PMO tells Lok Sabha Secretariat: No questions on PM CARES, relief and defence funds)

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