PM CARES Fund and Parliamentary Accountability: Rules and Constitutional Debate

PM CARES Fund and Parliamentary Accountability: Examine the legal framework, constitutional debates, transparency concerns, and questions over audit and oversight of the PM CARES Fund in India.

Table of Contents

Context

The Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) has informed the Lok Sabha Secretariat that questions related to PM CARES Fund, Prime Minister’s National Relief Fund (PMNRF), and National Defence Fund (NDF) are not admissible in the Lok Sabha under the existing Rules of Procedure.

Rationale Provided by the PMO

Voluntary nature of funds: All three funds are created entirely from voluntary public contributions, not from government tax revenue.
No use of Consolidated Fund of India: Since these funds do not draw money from the Consolidated Fund of India, they are not treated as government expenditure.
Limited parliamentary accountability: As a result, the PMO stated that these funds are not directly answerable to Parliament through questions.

Rules of Procedure Cited

Rule 41(2)(viii): Matters not primarily concerning the Government: This rule bars questions on issues that are not the main responsibility of the Government of India.
Rule 41(2)(xvii): Bodies not answerable to the Government: This rule disallows questions related to institutions or persons not under direct government control.
Implication of the rules: On this basis, the PMO advised that questions, Zero Hour mentions, and Special Mentions related to these funds may be ruled inadmissible.

	Overview of the Funds
PM CARES Fund	● Year of establishment (2020): Created during the Covid-19 pandemic to deal with emergency and distress situations. ● Legal status: Registered as a public charitable trust under the Registration Act, 1908. ● Purpose: To provide financial assistance during national emergencies and disasters. ● Financial position: Total balance stood at ₹6,283.7 crore as of March 2023, as per official disclosures. ● Not a statutory or constitutional body: It was not set up by the Constitution or by an Act of Parliament. ● Outside RTI framework: Since it is not a public authority, it does not fall under the RTI Act. ● No CAG audit: As a charitable trust, it is not audited by the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG)
Prime Minister’s National Relief Fund (PMNRF)	● Established in 1948: Originally created to help displaced persons after Partition. ● Current use: Provides immediate relief during natural disasters, major accidents, and riots. ● Source of funds: Entirely based on voluntary public donations.
National Defence Fund (NDF)	● Objective: Supports the welfare of armed forces and paramilitary personnel and their dependents. ● Administration: Managed by a committee headed by the Prime Minister, with senior ministers as members. ● Funding pattern: Receives money only through voluntary contributions

Judicial Position on PM CARES

Supreme Court ruling (2020): Held that PM CARES Fund and National Disaster Response Fund (NDRF) are separate funds with distinct objectives.
No merger with NDRF: The Court declined to direct the transfer of PM CARES funds to the NDRF.
Audit distinction: CAG audit is mandatory for NDRF, but not applicable to PM CARES, as it is a public charitable trust.

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