Citizens' Accountability LedgerWho owned the mess? 25 years, every party, on the record

Case 42 · Fund opacity

PM CARES. A public fund that hides from the public

28 Mar 2020 onward

No RTI. No CAG audit.

2,331 days since Nobody has been held to account.

Human cost
Every taxpayer and donor with a stake in how relief money is spent
Financial cost Est
Thousands of crore in donations, including from state-owned firms; donors and spending undisclosed

What happened

A trust set up days into the pandemic to collect COVID-relief donations, using the Prime Minister's name, the national emblem and a gov.in domain.

Claim against record

What the government said

The government says the fund is independently audited and its expenditure summaries are published.

What the record shows

No RTI. No CAG audit.

For all the trappings of the state, the government insists PM CARES is a private trust, so it is not a public authority under RTI and is not audited by the CAG. No citizen can learn who gave, or where the money went. A fund that borrows the state's face while dodging the state's accountability is opacity by design.

What accountability should have looked like

Bring it under RTI and CAG audit and disclose donors and disbursements, the standard for any fund that trades on the nation's name and symbols.

Ministers and office-holders responsible

Naming who held the portfolio is a matter of public record. It is not by itself a finding of personal responsibility for any death or any rupee.

Sources

T1 primary record · T2 reporting · T3 partisan

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Cite or export this case

Citizens' Accountability Ledger, "PM CARES. A public fund that hides from the public" (28 Mar 2020 onward), case-8. https://whoisresponsible.xyz/case/case-8/

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