As, of December 2019, the outbreak of the pandemic called COVID-19 has severely affected the lives of the people and the economy across the globe. Because of the same our Prime Minister, Mr.Narendra Modi announced to initiate PM Care Fund to provide special reliefs and support to citizens. Meanwhile, the PM Care Fund came to existence on MARCH 27TH, 2020. The Prime Minister of India, Mr.Narendra Modi is the chairmen including the Minister of Defence, Rajnath Singh; Minister of Home Affairs, Amit Shah, and Minister of Finance, Nirmala Sitharaman as trustee. On the other hand, the primary purpose of the organization is to deal with any form of emergency or stress, caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, and to providing assisting to those affected. The stated purpose of this fund is to fight, as well as to prevent, and aid efforts against the COVID-19 outbreak and similar emergencies in near future.
Objectives of PM Care Fund
- Given global crises, natural calamity, or any emergency (natural or man-made), the government aims to provide medical or health reliefs which include necessary modernization of infrastructure, medication, research, and other financial support.
- Likewise, it aims towards reaching out to the needy and affected population to provide financial support and more such budgetary help, including accommodation facilities, etc as may be considered fundamental by the Board of Trustees towards the affected.
- Further, to take forward any other actions, not conflicting with the above-stated facts.
Trustees and structure of PM Care Fund
When we talk about “TRUST” it is divided into two types; Private Trust and Public Trust. Public Trust further includes Charitable Trust and Religious Trust. As PMCF is devoted to providing relief and support to the needy public, it is defined as a PUBLIC CHARITABLE TRUST.
Although that the documentation for the structure is not publically available , the Government of India has expressed that the Prime Minister of India, Narendra Modi, is the chairman of PMCF and further members includes the Defence Minister, Rajnath Singh; Minister of Home Affairs, Amit Shah, and Minister of Finance, Nirmala Sitharaman as Trustees. Also, it is stated that the chairperson (Prime Minister) has authority to nominate any 3 trustees who shall act in a pro bono capacity.
A view towards accountability and transparency
- Lack of Transparency: It fails to disclose the trust deed or any fund-related documents. PMO also stated that PMCF does not qualify as a public authority because of the Right to Information Act 2005, and refuses to disclose any information.
- Exemptions from Audits: PM CARES Finance will not be examining by the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) of India. Instead, Finance will be scrutinized by its members (trustees).
- Foreign donation monitoring: There is exemption against the monitoring of donation from foreign under the FCRA (Foreign Contribution and Regulation Act), 1976. Also, a separate account is opened for accepting foreign donations.
What are the features of donation under PM Care Fund
- PMFC accepts both Domestic as well as Foreign donations through net banking, cards payments, and other payment modes.
- Donations as Voluntary contributions from any individual/organization or any Public sector/companies are welcome.
- further, Donations are part of expenditure to Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) under The companies act 2013
- At last, also the 80G of Income Tax Act, 1961 will provide 100% Tax deduction benefits.
Why contribute towards The PM Care fund
India, being a developing country needs timely up-gradation to deal with sudden distress situations including any natural or man-made disaster. PMCF aims towards the welfare of society through individual voluntary contributions. However, these voluntary efforts results in economic or sustainable development by meeting the essential needs of the public who are victim of any calamity or any emergency. The recent pandemic (covid-19) brought global distress among peoples and was highly disruptive in terms of financial activity, educational loss, medical emergencies, as well as loss of human lives. PMCF acting as a dedicated national fund provides support and relief throughout the ongoing pandemic including the following contribution to society:
- Educational support
- Health care support
- Financial grants
- Infrastructure support
- Or any other relief towards the affected lives.
Allocation of resources during war against COVID-19
- Ventilators: It is seen that the Prime Minister effectively Utilize the PMCF as a allocate fund for Disaster management and research. The PMO members stated that the very first spending from the fund was around Rs 3,100crore which would contribute to buying 50,000 Indian manufactured Ventilators for meeting the needs of government hospitals during the pandemic.
- Migrants and Workers: A sum of Rs.1000Crore budget for the welfare of the migrants and labour class those has suffer financial loss. The further fund was allotted indicating the issues regarding food, shelter, accommodation, transportation, and medical facilities.
- Research Projects and Vaccines: A sum of Rs.100crores was assigned towards the advancement of the Vaccine for COVID-19 under the direction of the Principal Scientific Advisor to the Government. Subsequently, any fund assigned for the advancement of vaccines was dedicated to initial research projects.
- Oxygen Plant Installation: As in the rise of covid-19, the lack of oxygen supply is a taking a serious concern which was leading towards many losses of human lives. To tackle this distress the government took a step forward to allot funds from PMCF for the installation of 551 oxygen plants and around 1,00,000 portable oxygen concentrators.
How to make donations online
Indian Companies who contributed to PM cares fund.
Indian companies have highly shown their contribution towards the PMCF headed by Mr. Narendra Modi. The updated list by the government officials shows the list of contributing Indian companies such as:
- Kotak Mahindra Bank and Uday Kotak- Donated around Rs50crore
- Reliance Industries-Rs500crores
- Vedanta- Rs100crores
- Adani Group- Rs100crores
- Tata Group-Rs1500crores
- Infosys-Rs100crors
- And many more, updated on the government website.
Conclusion
PMCF is surely an efficient and effective measure for controlling sudden distress situations in the country though not assures a 100% guaranteed win situation. Many big trusted companies/organizations and individuals also have been a part of the contribution. Besides all, proper care should be administered towards the transparency issues under The Right to Information Act 2005. Furthermore, Government should be properly accountable and answerable to the taxpayers who have the right to know about the utilization of their donations.
