Former Union Finance Minister P Chidambaram has asked the Centre to reveal the names of the donors who contributed to the PM-CARES fund after it was revealed that it received more than Rs 3,000 crore in just 5 days. The official website of the PM CARES fund has stated that it has received Rs 3,076 crores till March 31, 2020.
In a series of tweets, the senior Congress leader said, “The auditors of PM-CARES Fund have confirmed that the fund received Rs 3,076 crore in just five days between March 26 and 31, 2020.But the names of these generous donors will not be revealed. Why? Every other NGO or Trust is obliged to reveal the names of donors contributing more than a threshold amount. Why is the PM-CARES FUND exempt from this obligation?”
He further asked, “The donee is known. The trustees of the donee are known. Why are the trustees afraid to reveal the names of the donors?”
The Prime Minister of India is the Chairman of the PM-CARES Fund, while Ministers of Defence, Home Affairs, and Finance are the trustees of the fund.
Earlier this year, Right to Information (RTI) requests filed by advocate Abhay Gupta and a student, Harsha Kandukuri, had sought details of the PM-Cares Fund and its donors. They were told that the fund was not a public authority, and therefore was exempted from the RTI Act, 2005.
The fund trust on May 13, decided to allocate Rs 3,100 crore for the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic and said that the amount would be used, among other things, to purchase ventilators and caring for migrant workers.
Out of the Rs 3,100 crore, nearly Rs 2,000 crore was earmarked for the purchase of ‘Made-in-India’ ventilators, authorities said. The PM CARES Fund was set up to receive financial assistance from people across the country as well as overseas to provide relief and equip India’s fight against the COVID-19 pandemic.