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Was there a need to Substitute PMNRF with PM CARES?
Prime Minister of India, Narendra Modi, announced the constitution of the Prime Minister’s Citizen Assistance and Relief in Emergency Situations (PM CARES) Fund on 28th March in the wake of increasing cases of Coronavirus (COVID-19) in India. The Fund seeks to “build capacities for quick emergency response and effective community resilience with the use of new technology and advanced research findings as elements of such concerted action[1].” The initiative has been praised but a primary question is being asked about the reasons for its inception when the Prime Minister National Relief Fund (PMNRF) is already in existence.
The PMNRF was established in 1948 by the then Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru with an aim to assist displaced person from Pakistan during and after the partition of India. Right now, the resources of the PMNRF are utilized primarily to render immediate relief to families affected by natural calamities, accidents or riots, as well as to partially defray medical expenses[2]. In order to assess whether the PMNRF could be used to provide relief to those affected by the pandemic it is important to understand whether the COVID-19 pandemic can be considered a natural calamity and this was answered on March 14th by a Ministry notification declaring the pandemic to be a ‘notified disaster’ thus enabling States to utilize the State Disaster Relief Fund to help citizens[3]. This meant that the funds from the PMNRF could now be distributed to provide relief and this was good because funds and expenditure from the PMNRF could be tracked by the public as all the information is widely available on the website. As of now, an approximate amount of Rs. 3,800.44 Crore is available in the PMNRF[4], but it remains uncared for and unused with the creation of PM CARES. So, the question remains, was there a need to create a separate fund to deal with this crisis?
The PMNRF which allows tax deductions as well as foreign contributions is very similar to the PM CARES Fund, but it is different on one note and that is transparency. The PMNRF website allows for the public to track the use of its funds, income and expenditure, and to monitor it but the PM CARES Fund foes not allow for this, so all the money donated by individuals and companies is being directed to a non-transparent fund. Furthermore, the PMNRF has proven to be effective in providing relief in the wake of natural calamities even under the Modi government and yet, a new fund was created specifically to address the crisis caused by the COVID-19 pandemic[5]. One reason for this could be that the inviting and appealing acronym, PM CARES, created for the sole purpose of combating the pandemic and tugging at the heartstrings of fearful citizens in this time of uncertainty. Another reason for the creation of PM CARES could be the creation of a more democratic fund. The PMNRF was created by Jawaharlal Nehru but when Rajiv Gandhi came to power, management of the fund was entrusted solely with the Prime Minister who had the sole discretion of appointing a Secretary who would administer the fund. Through PM CARES, Modi delegates the decision-making power to Home Minister Amit Shah, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, and Defense Minister Rajnath Singh but as chairman Modi still has the responsibility to approve and sanction his minister’s decisions but unlike the PMNRF he is not the “judge, jury and executioner[6].”
While the objective of PM CARES is not to replace or undermine the efficacy of the PMNRF, its constitution reflects the immediacy and urgency by the government in coordinating state action and contributions by the affluent public in taking action against the crisis at hand.
[1] Libertatem News Network, PM CARES or Citizen Cares for PMNRF? Why PM Modi ditched PMNRF and created PM CARES?, Libertatem, (April 1, 2020, 12:35 PM), http://libertatem.in/articles/why-pm-modi-ditched-pmnrf-and-created-pm-cares/.
[2] Prime Minister’s Office, About PMNRF, PMNRF, (April 5, 2020, 12:42 PM), https://pmnrf.gov.in/en/about.
[3] Meghnad S, A Black Hole called PM CARES Fund, NewsLaundry, (April 2, 2020, 7:56 PM), https://www.newslaundry.com/2020/04/02/a-black-hole-called-pm-cares-fund.
[4] Prime Minister National Relief Fund, PMNRF Receipts and Payments Account, PMNRF (Aril 5, 2020, 12:58 PM), https://pmnrf.gov.in/assets/uploads/downloads/RPA_2018_19_20191216.pdf.
[5] Supra note 3.
[6] Sai Manish, Why Modi’s PM CARES is more democratic than PM National Relief Fund, Business Standard, (April 2, 2020, 11:09 PM), https://www.business-standard.com/article/economy-policy/why-modi-s-pm-cares-is-more-democratic-than-pm-national-relief-fund-120040200652_1.html.
- Prime Minister National Relief Fund
- Prime Minister’s Citizen Assistance and Relief in Emergency Situations
- COVID-19 Releif
