Cabinet never discussed setting up of PM-CARES fund: RTI

The setting up of the controversial PM-CARES fund, aimed at collecting donations to fight the pandemic Covid-19 and similar crises in the future, was not discussed in the Union Cabinet while the Ministry of Corporate Affairs has mentioned that the government has set it up to enable donations to be considered as CSR spending, according to a series of RTI responses.

Transparency activist Anjali Bhardwaj had filed an RTI queries with the Prime Minister's Office, Cabinet Secretariat, Ministry of Corporate Affairs, Ministry of Law and Justice, Ministry of Labour and Employment and Chief Labour Commissioner regarding various aspects of the PM-CARES fund, which was set up on March 27.

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The Cabinet Secretariat, in its response, revealed that "there was no agenda item in any Cabinet meeting specifically related to the creation of the PM-CARES fund".

The RTI response from the Ministry of Corporate Affairs showed that on March 28, its office memorandum said that donations to the PM-CARES Fund qualify under Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) activities as it was set up by the central government.

In the office memorandum on clarification on contribution to PM-CARES fund as eligible CSR activity, the Ministry said the Companies Act, 2013 provides that contribute to any fund set up by the Central Government for socio-economic development and relief qualifies as CSR expenditure. "The PM-CARES Fund has been set up to provide relief to those affected by any kind of emergency or distress situation. Accordingly, it is clarified that any contribution made to the PM CARES Fund shall qualify as CSR expenditure..." it said.

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However, in late May, the Companies Act was retrospectively amended to include donations to PM-CARES as CSR activity so that it was not dependent on the definition that the fund was set up by the government. RTI queries seeking details of donations were stonewalled by the government citing that the fund was set up as a public charitable trust and not a public authority under the transparency law.

"The documents from MoCA relied on the fact that the fund has been set up by the Central government to approve it for CSR funding. It appears odd that the decision to set up a body in which the Prime Minister is the chairperson in an ex-officio capacity and three ministers are trustees, in an ex-officio capacity, did not go through the cabinet," Bhardwaj said.

The Ministry of Law and Justice has so far not responded to Bhardwaj's query whether its comments sought on the setting up of the fund.

Following the announcement that Rs 1,000 crore has been allocated for the care of migrant labourers, RTI queries were also submitted with the Ministry of Labour and Employment and Chief Labour Commissioner.

The Ministry responded saying PM-CARES was not a public authority and relevant information could be seen on its website.

The Chief Labour Commissioner said in response that no such information (earmarking Rs 1,000 crore) was available.