PM CARES

IN NEWS:

• Supreme Court seeks government reply on a petition regarding PM cares fund.

ABOUT PM CARES:

• The Prime Minister's Citizen Assistance and Relief in Emergency Situations Fund (PM CARES Fund) was created on 28 March 2020, following the COVID-19 pandemic in India.
• The fund will be used for combating, and containment and relief efforts against the coronavirus outbreak and similar pandemic like situations in the future.
• The Prime Minister of India is the chairman of the fund. Trustees include the Minister of Defence, Minister of Home Affairs and Minister of Finance in the Government of India.
• The minimum donation accepted for the PM CARES Fund is ?10. The donations will be tax exempt and fall under corporate social responsibility (CSR).
• The government stated that "independent auditors who will be appointed by the trustees" would audit the fund. Thus, CAG’s office is expected to have no role in the audit of the fund.

PRELIMS QUESTION:

Q. Consider the following statements about PM-CARES fund:

1. PM-CARES will be audited by the CAG.
2. The contributions to PM-CARES will be tax exempted.

Which of the statements given above is/are correct:

1. 1 only
2. 2 only
3. Both 1 and 2
4. Neither 1 nor 2

Answer to Prelims question