‘Where Is the Money in PM-CARES Fund Going? We Don’t Know’: Justice Madan Lokur
Retired Supreme Court judge Justice Madan B. Lokur on Tuesday, October 12, raised concerns about the transparency of funds collected under the Prime Minister Citizen Assistance and Relief in Emergency Situation Fund (PM-CARES Fund), Live Law reported.
“We know government employees have donated money. CSR has been diverted towards PM-CARES. But how much money is there under the Fund? We don’t know. How has it been spent? We don’t know. We were told that it would be utilised for tackling COVID, buying ventilators. What actually has happened? We don’t know,” Justice Lokur said, speaking about the fund….
The former Supreme Court judge also brought up the audit reports which are displayed on the PM-CARES website. From the data available in the audit report for the period of March 28, 2020 – March 31, 2020, Justice Lokur extrapolated that the fund could potentially hold “hundreds and thousands of crores”. “But where is this money going? We don’t know,” he said. Further, he noted that the audit report for the 2020-21 period is yet to be prepared. He added that, “… nobody has any clue about the audit reports.” Justice Lokur’s questioning of the fund comes at a time when the Delhi high court is hearing a petition to bring the PM-CARES fund under the purview of the RTI Act….
