Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge on Thursday questioned the spending and accountability of the PM CARES Fund, citing its financial statement for 2024-25 and claiming that the fund had a closing balance of around Rs 8,452 crore while only Rs 87.85 lakh was spent during the year.
In a post on X, Kharge alleged that the expenditure during 2024-25 amounted to barely 0.01 per cent of the fund’s closing balance and questioned the rationale behind an emergency fund accumulating thousands of crores.
“PM does not CARE: Public Authority Without Public Accountability?” Kharge said, while also referring to the Ram Mandir Trust in his criticism of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
“As if one Shree Ram Mandir Trust was not enough for Chanda Chori,” Kharge said, alleging that both the PM CARES Fund and the Ram Mandir Trust were announced under Modi’s oversight and receive donations.
Kharge also questioned the mechanisms governing the PM CARES Fund, alleging that it remained outside what he described as the “ordinary mechanisms of public scrutiny”. He claimed that the fund was not subject to RTI scrutiny, a CAG audit or Parliamentary accountability.
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“The Prime Minister is its Chairman. The Defence, Home and Finance Ministers are its Trustees. It accepts CSR contributions and tax-deductible donations,” Kharge said.
He asked why a fund bearing the Prime Minister’s name remained beyond conventional public scrutiny and questioned why an emergency fund was accumulating large reserves when only a small portion of its closing balance was spent during the financial year.
“Why does a Fund bearing the Prime Minister’s name remain beyond the ordinary mechanisms of public scrutiny?” Kharge asked.
He also questioned the rationale behind the fund accumulating thousands of crores when, according to the figures cited by him, only about 0.01 per cent of its closing balance was spent in 2024-25.
The financial statement shared by Kharge showed that the fund received domestic and foreign donations during the year and also earned interest from bank savings and fixed deposits.
The PM CARES Fund was established in March 2020 as a public charitable trust to receive contributions and provide assistance during emergency and distress situations, including the COVID-19 pandemic.
Kharge’s remarks came after the release of the fund’s financial statement for 2024-25, with the Congress leader seeking greater transparency and accountability over its finances and functioning.
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