PM CARES Fund

In Context

• The PM CARES Fund collected ?10,990 crores from its inception in March 2020 until March 2021. 

  • It spent ?3,976 crores during the 2020-21 financial year and as of March 31, 2021, the Fund had an unspent balance of ?7,044 crores.

About  (PM CARES Fund)

• Prime Minister’s Citizen Assistance and Relief in Emergency Situations Fund(PM CARES Fund)was created in 2020 at the start of the Covid-19 pandemic and was set up to deal with “any kind of emergency or distress situation, like posed by the COVID-19 pandemic and to provide relief to the affected.

• Composition :

  • Prime Minister is the ex-officio Chairman of the PM CARES Fund and Minister of Defense, Minister of Home Affairs and Minister of Finance, Government of India are ex-officio Trustees of the Fund.

• Objectives:
  • To undertake and support relief or assistance of any kind relating to a public health emergency or any other kind of emergency, calamity or distress, either man-made or natural, including the creation or up-gradation of healthcare or pharmaceutical facilities, other necessary infrastructure, funding relevant research or any other type of support.
  • To render financial assistance, provide grants of payments of money or take such other steps as may be deemed necessary by the Board of Trustees to the affected population.
  • To undertake any other activity, which is not inconsistent with the above Objects.
• Features: 
  • The fund consists entirely of voluntary contributions from individuals/organizations and does not get any budgetary support.
  • Donations to PM CARES Fund would qualify for 80G benefits for 100% exemption under the Income Tax Act, 1961.
  •  Donations to PM CARES Fund will also qualify to be counted as Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) expenditure under the Companies Act, 2013
  • It has also got exemption under the FCRA and a separate account for receiving foreign donations has been opened. 
    • This enables PM CARES Fund to accept donations and contributions from individuals and organizations based in foreign countries. 
  • It functions with transparency and its funds are audited by an auditor who is a Chartered Accountant drawn from the panel prepared by the Comptroller and Auditor General of India.

Source: TH