PM CARES FUND
2020 APR 1
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IN NEWS:
The Prime Minister's Citizen Assistance and Relief in Emergency Situations (PM CARES) Fund was created as a public charitable trust on March 2020 following the COVID-19 pandemic in India.
ABOUT PM CARES:
- PM CARES Fund is created as a dedicated national fund 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.
- It is created with the primary objective to deal with any kind of emergency situation like the one currently posed by the COVID-19 outbreak and provide relief to those affected
PM CARES Vs. PM NRF:
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PM CARES Fund
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PMNRF
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- PM CARES Fund is created as a public charitable trust.
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- Prime Minister’s National Relief Fund (PMNRF) was established in 1948 to assist displaced persons from Pakistan.
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- PM is the Chairman of this trust and its Members include Defense Minister, Home Minister and Finance Minister.
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- It is recognized as a Trust under the Income Tax Act. Prime Minister is the Chairman of PMNRF and is assisted by Officers/ Staff on honorary basis.
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- The fund consists entirely of voluntary contributions and does not get any budgetary support.Foreign funds would be accepted only from individuals and foundations
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- The fund consists entirely of public contributions and does not get any budgetary support. Foreign funds would be accepted only from individuals and foundations
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- The PM Cares fund is available during a public health emergency, such as the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, the upgradation of pharmaceutical and healthcare facilities, funding research and during any other emergency and calamities.
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- The resources 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.
- It is also used to partially defray the expenses for medical treatments like heart surgeries, kidney transplantation, cancer treatment and acid attack etc.
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- Contributions towards PM CARES are notified for 100% deduction from taxable income under section 80(G) of the Income Tax Act, 1961.
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- Contributions towards PMNRF are notified for 100% deduction from taxable income under section 80(G) of the Income Tax Act, 1961.
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- Donations will also qualify to be counted as Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) expenditure under the Companies Act, 2013.
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Donations will also qualify to be counted as Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) expenditure under the Companies Act, 2013 |
CRITICISM:
- The fund has PM and three other Ministers as trustees, but do not have any members from the Opposition parties or the civil society as its trustees, which would have been better.
- There are criticisms from various quarters against the creation of PM CARES Fund when there already exists a similar fund - the Prime Minister’s National Relief Fund (PMNRF). PMNRF is reported to have an unspent balance of ?3,800 crore as of December 16, 2019. Some of the opposition MP’s have already requested to transfer the received amount to PMNRF and from there to the State Governments who are battling the challenges of COVID-19 pandemic.
- Another point to be noted is that the Chief Ministers Relief Funds are not eligible for funds under Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR), while PM CARES can receive funds under CSR. It is because under Companies Act, 2013 funds set up by the state government were omitted from the list of ‘eligible funds’ which could receive CSR donations. This differenciation has been pointed out by some states.
