THE PRIME Minister’s Office (PMO) has told the Lok Sabha Secretariat that Parliament questions and matters related to PM CARES Fund, the Prime Minister’s National Relief Fund (PMNRF) and the National Defence Fund (NDF) are not admissible under rules related to the conduct of business in Lok Sabha, The Indian Express has learnt.
It is learnt that on January 30, the PMO told the Lok Sabha Secretariat that questions and matters related to the three funds are not permissible under Rule 41(2) (viii) and 41(2)(xvii) of the Rules of Procedure and Conduct of Business in Lok Sabha.
Under the stipulated conditions that govern the right to ask questions in the Lok Sabha, Rule 41(2) (viii) states that “it shall not relate to a matter which is not primarily the concern of the Government of India”. Rule 41(2) (xvii) states “it shall not raise matters that are under the control of bodies or persons not primarily responsible to the Government of India”.
The reasoning for questions and matters not being admissible in Lok Sabha given by the PMO, it is learnt, was that the corpus of these funds is constituted entirely with voluntary public contribution and not from any allocation out of the Consolidated Fund of India.
The PMO told the Lok Sabha Secretariat that in case a situation arises to determine the admissibility of a question or notice of zero hour or special mention seeking information on the three funds arises, the conditions in the provisions may be exercised, it is learnt.
The PMO did not respond to an emailed query from The Indian Express on its communication with the Lok Sabha Secretariat in this regard. Mukesh Kumar Sharma, Joint Secretary, Lok Sabha Secretariat (Media & Public Relations Branch), did not respond to requests for comment from The Indian Express.
When PM CARES was set up
The PM CARES fund was set up on March 27, 2020, following the Covid outbreak. “Keeping in mind the need for having a dedicated fund with the primary objective of dealing with any kind of emergency or distress situation, like posed by the COVID-19 pandemic, and to provide relief to the affected, a public charitable trust under the name of ‘Prime Minister’s Citizen Assistance and Relief in Emergency Situations Fund (PM CARES Fund)’ has been set up,” the official website of PM CARES fund states.
The fund was registered as a Public Charitable Trust and its trust deed has been registered under the Registration Act, 1908, at New Delhi on March 27, 2020.
As per the PM CARES Fund receipts and payment account report for 2022-23, which is the last published on its official website, the total balance at the end of March 2023 stood at Rs 6,283.7 crore.
In January 2023, the Centre had informed the Delhi High Court that PM CARES Fund has been set up as a public charitable trust and is not created under the Constitution or any law made by the Parliament or the state. The Centre had made the submission during the hearing of a plea seeking to declare the fund a “state” under Article 12 of the Constitution to ensure transparency in its functioning.
The Centre in its affidavit had said that the trust is “neither intended to be or in fact owned or controlled” by any government or any instrumentality of the government and the composition of the board of trustees consisting of holders of public office is merely for administrative convenience.
The affidavit also stated that since it is not constituted under law or the Constitution, PMCARES does not constitute a public authority under the provisions of the RTI Act.
On August 18, 2020, the Supreme Court had “refused” to order transfer of funds from the PM CARES Fund to the National Disaster Response Fund (NDRF), saying they “are two entirely different funds with different object and purpose” and “there is no occasion” for such a direction.
The apex court had also said guidelines specifically provide for audit of the NDRF by the Comptroller & Auditor General of India, but PM CARES Fund is a public charitable trust due to which “there is no occasion” for such an audit.
Dismissing a writ petition filed by the NGO, Centre for Public Interest Litigation (CPIL), the court had said: “The funds collected in the PM CARES Fund are entirely different funds which are funds of a public charitable trust and there is no occasion for issuing any direction to transfer the said funds to the NDRF”.
In December 2020, The Indian Express had reported, based on RTI records, that apart from over Rs 2,400 crore in Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) funds, over 100 PSUs from across sectors together contributed nearly Rs 155 crore from staff salaries to the PM CARES fund.
The PMNRF was established in January 1948 with public contributions to assist displaced persons from Pakistan. Its resources are now utilised primarily to render immediate relief to families of those killed in natural calamities like floods, cyclones and earthquakes, etc., and to the victims of major accidents and riots.
The NDF is used for the welfare of members of the Armed Forces, including paramilitary forces, and their dependents. The fund is administered by an Executive Committee, with the PM as Chairperson, and Defence, Finance and Home Ministers as Members, according to its official website.
