{
 "no": 8,
 "id": "case-8",
 "sk": 20200328,
 "year": 2020,
 "date": "28 Mar 2020 onward",
 "cat": "Fund opacity",
 "sev": "red",
 "title": "PM CARES. A public fund that hides from the public",
 "stamp": "No RTI. No CAG audit.",
 "human": {
  "v": "Every taxpayer and donor with a stake in how relief money is spent",
  "est": false
 },
 "cost": {
  "v": "<b>Thousands of crore</b> in donations, including from state-owned firms; donors and spending undisclosed",
  "est": true
 },
 "what": "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.",
 "dodge": "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.",
 "ministers": [
  {
   "n": "Narendra Modi",
   "r": "Ex-officio Chairman"
  },
  {
   "n": "Amit Shah, Rajnath Singh, Nirmala Sitharaman",
   "r": "Ex-officio Trustees"
  }
 ],
 "pos": "The government says the fund is independently audited and its expenditure summaries are published.",
 "alt": "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.",
 "sources": [
  {
   "label": "Centre: not a public authority",
   "url": "https://scroll.in/latest/1006011/pm-cares-is-not-a-public-authority-under-the-rti-act-centre-tells-delhi-high-court",
   "tier": 2,
   "archiveUrl": "http://web.archive.org/web/20260114085055/https://scroll.in/latest/1006011/pm-cares-is-not-a-public-authority-under-the-rti-act-centre-tells-delhi-high-court"
  },
  {
   "label": "On gov.in, still 'not public'",
   "url": "https://www.deccanherald.com/india/pm-cares-now-under-govin-domain-centre-still-says-it-is-not-public-authority-932943.html",
   "tier": 2,
   "archiveUrl": "http://web.archive.org/web/20240423050844/https://www.deccanherald.com/india/pm-cares-now-under-govin-domain-centre-still-says-it-is-not-public-authority-932943.html"
  }
 ],
 "estimates": {
  "costInrCrore": 1000
 },
 "caseUrl": "https://whoisresponsible.xyz/case/case-8/"
}