Congress National President Mallikarjun Kharge questioned the spending and accountability of the PM CARES Fund, citing its financial statement for 2024-25 after the audit report and asking why an emergency fund was accumulating thousands of crores while only a small portion of its balance was spent during the year.
Kharge claimed that the PM CARES Fund had a closing balance of around Rs 8,452 crore at the end of the 2024-25 financial year, while expenditure during the year stood at just Rs 87.85 lakh.
He said this amounted to barely 0.01 per cent of the fund’s closing balance and questioned the rationale behind maintaining such a large corpus in a fund created to respond to emergencies.
In an X post, Kharge raised questions over what he described as the lack of public accountability surrounding the fund. He asked why a fund bearing the Prime Minister’s name remained outside what he called the “ordinary mechanisms of public scrutiny”.
“PM does not CARE: Public authority without public accountability?” Kharge said in his post.
He further alleged that the PM CARES Fund was not subject to scrutiny under the Right to Information (RTI) framework, a Comptroller and Auditor General of India (CAG) audit or Parliamentary accountability.
“The Prime Minister is its Chairman. The Defence, Home and Finance Ministers are its Trustees. It accepts CSR contributions and tax-deductible donations,” Kharge said.
The Congress president also questioned how an emergency fund could continue accumulating thousands of crores when its expenditure during 2024-25 was a fraction of its closing balance.
“Why does a Fund bearing the Prime Minister’s name remain beyond the ordinary mechanisms of public scrutiny?” he asked.
He also questioned the rationale behind the fund’s large accumulation, asking, “What is the rationale of an emergency fund accumulating thousands of crores when barely 0.01% of its closing balance was spent in 2024-25?”
According to the financial statement shared by Kharge, the PM CARES Fund received both domestic and foreign donations during the financial year. The fund also earned interest from savings accounts and fixed deposits.
Drawing parallels with the Ram temple donation theft row
Kharge linked his criticism of the PM CARES Fund to the Ram Mandir Trust, referring to what he alleged was “Chanda Chori” or donation-related theft.
He said both the PM CARES Fund and the Ram Mandir Trust were announced under Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s oversight and receive donations.
“As if one Shree Ram Mandir Trust was not enough for Chanda Chori…! Remember, you, Modi ji announced both PM CARES fund and Ram Mandir Trust and both get donations under your oversight!” Kharge said.
The PM CARES Fund was created as a dedicated public charitable trust to deal with emergency and distress situations, including the COVID-19 pandemic, and to provide relief to people affected by national crises.
The trust was officially registered under the Registration Act, 1908, in New Delhi on March 27, 2020. It was established as a centralised mechanism for receiving contributions and deploying assistance during emergencies.
Kharge’s criticism, therefore, centres on two key issues: how much money the fund has accumulated and how much of that money is actually being spent.
By citing the 2024-25 financial statement, he questioned whether the scale of expenditure was consistent with the stated purpose of maintaining a large emergency corpus.
His remarks also focused on the broader question of transparency, particularly the mechanisms through which the fund’s finances can be scrutinised by the public and institutions.
The questions raised by the Congress president come amid his wider criticism of the Prime Minister over the functioning and oversight of institutions and funds associated with the government.
