"PM CARES Fund audited statements absent from public domain since FY 2022-23"
PM CARES Fund
Public charitable trust established March 2020, chaired by Prime Minister, funded by voluntary contributions for disaster relief.
Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG)
Constitutional authority under Articles 148–151 that audits government accounts and reports to Parliament.
The Prime Minister's Citizen Assistance and Relief in Emergency Situations (PM CARES) Fund was established in March 2020 as a public charitable trust, primarily to mobilise resources for relief during the COVID-19 pandemic and other public health emergencies or disasters. It is chaired by the Prime Minister in an ex-officio capacity, with the Defence Minister, Home Minister, and Finance Minister as ex-officio trustees. The Fund is financed entirely through voluntary contributions from individuals, corporations, and foreign donors — it does not receive budgetary allocations from the Consolidated Fund of India.
India's accountability architecture for public money rests on several pillars: parliamentary oversight through the Public Accounts Committee, audit by the Comptroller and Auditor General of India (CAG) under Articles 148–151 of the Constitution, and transparency obligations under the Right to Information Act, 2005. However, PM CARES occupies an ambiguous legal space: because it is structured as a private charitable trust rather than a government fund, it has consistently been held by the government to fall outside the ambit of CAG audit and RTI disclosure obligations — a position that has been contested in courts and by civil society groups.
The governance of public charitable trusts in India is regulated primarily by the Indian Trusts Act, 1882 and state-level public trusts legislation, not by the constitutional accountability framework that governs government funds. This structural choice has significant implications: unlike the Prime Minister's National Relief Fund (PMNRF), which also operates as a trust but has a longer history of partial disclosures, PM CARES was set up with an independent auditor appointed by the trustees rather than the CAG. The government's position has been that since contributions are voluntary and the fund is not part of the Consolidated Fund or Public Account, it is not a 'public authority' under the RTI Act, 2005.
This position has been challenged on multiple grounds. …
With reference to the Union Government, consider the following statements:
1.The Department of Revenue is responsible for the preparation of Union Budget that is presented to the Parliament.
2.No amount can be withdrawn from the Consolidated Fund of India without the authorization from the Parliament of India.
3.All the disbursements made from Public Account also need the authorization from the Parliament of India.
Which of the statements given above is/are correct?
With reference to Union Budget, consider the following statements:
1.The Union Finance Minister on behalf of the Prime Minister lays the Annual Financial Statement before both the Houses of Parliament.
2.At the Union level, no demand for a grant can be made except on the recommendation of the President of India.
Which of the statements given above is/are correct?
With reference to the PM CARES Fund, consider the following statements:
1.It is a statutory body established under the Disaster Management Act, 2005.
2.It is chaired by the Prime Minister in an ex-officio capacity.
3.The Comptroller and Auditor General of India has a constitutional mandate to audit its accounts.
Which of the statements given above is/are correct?
The National Disaster Response Fund (NDRF) differs from the PM CARES Fund primarily in that the NDRF:
1.Is established under a statute and is subject to CAG audit.
2.Receives contributions exclusively from the Union Government's budgetary allocations.
3.Is chaired by the Prime Minister in an ex-officio capacity.
Which of the statements given above is/are correct?
The constitutional provisions governing the Comptroller and Auditor General of India are contained in which of the following Articles?
Assertion (A): A public charitable trust that receives voluntary contributions from citizens and public-sector enterprises for disaster relief is not automatically a 'public authority' under the Right to Information Act, 2005.
Reason (R): The RTI Act, 2005 defines 'public authority' as a body owned, controlled, or substantially financed by the government, or a non-government organisation substantially financed directly or indirectly by funds provided by the government.
Which of the following is correct?
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