What information has the government given on PM Cares Fund and why questions are being raised

The matter is in March of the year 2020 when due to the wave of coronavirus, restrictions started in the country and the epidemic was spreading rapidly.

On the 29th of the same March, the Prime Minister had announced the establishment of the 'PM Cares Fund', through which the unprecedented situation of the epidemic arising in the country could be met.

Recently, the account of two years has been presented on the website of 'PM Cares Fund'. According to the information provided, a total of Rs 10,990 crore has been collected in this fund. In the information shared on the website, only the details of the expenditure incurred till the last financial year i.e. March 31, 2021, have been given.

The audit report shows that till March 2021, Rs 3,976 crore was spent from this amount, which is one-third of the total deposits.

However, in the current financial year, in which item this amount was spent or how much amount was spent, its information is not available on the website.

According to the audit report, in the amount spent, because of the exodus of migrant workers, Rs 1,000 crore was given to the state governments, while about fifty thousand ventilators were provided in various government hospitals of the country, on which Rs 1,131 crore has been spent. Along with this, it has also been told that till March 2021, Rs 1392 crore has also been spent for 6.6 crore doses of the vaccine.

The opposition alleges

However, Aam Aadmi Party's National Joint Secretary Ankush Narang told the BBC that the ventilators that were given through this fund turned out to be too bad which the state government had to replace. Similar complaints were also received from some other states of the country.

Narang alleges that no amount was provided to the Delhi government for the migrant workers.

An official of Chhattisgarh's health department said that many of the ventilators given to them were left lying as the health department employees were not trained to operate them.

The report also reveals that Rs 50 crore was spent in setting up 16 labs for RT/PCR tests in different parts of the country, while an amount of 20 crores was used to modernize the already existing labs in some states so that people To make it easier to get tested for Covid.

Apart from this, more than Rs 200 crore was spent to set up 160 oxygen plants across the country. At the same time, Rs 50 crore was spent to build Covid hospitals in Muzaffarpur and Patna in Bihar.

The audit of 'PM Cares Fund' has been done by the audit firm named SAARC Associates which is available on the website. It has also been told from where how much amount has been received. The report said that while 7,183 crores were deposited through voluntary donations from within the country, about Rs 494 crores were deposited through grants received from abroad.

Siddharth Tara, general secretary of the 'Progressive Medicos and Scientists Forum', told the BBC that even the ventilators that came to hospitals came only after the end of the second wave when people faced great difficulties in finding ventilators.

many question marks

Trinamool Congress MP Saugata Roy says that spending only 30 percent of the total deposits in this fund raises many questions in itself.

In the course of a conversation with the BBC, he says, "It is another matter that this amount was kept away from the right to information. But it is even more pity that there is an unexpected phase regarding health. A kind of health emergency Despite this, in the last two years, the health system in remote areas have not been repaired nor has the health infrastructure been increased. People are still battling the corona epidemic because they have to Not get free medical treatment.

When Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced the establishment of this fund, the opposition raised many questions about this decision. Major opposition parties including Congress President Sonia Gandhi had questioned the government that when the Prime Minister's Relief Fund is present, then what was the need of this new fund.

The opposition said that the Chief Minister's Relief Fund is also established at the state level and money should have been deposited in it.

In May 2020, this fund was established through a trust. Apart from being the chairman of the Prime Minister, the Finance Minister, Home Minister, and Defense Minister were included as trustees.

the matter reached the court

Activists working for the Right to Information have also knocked on the doors of the court in the last two years regarding this fund and demanded that it should be brought under the 'right to information and the information related to it should be made available when asked.

But in September last year, the government clarified in its petition in the Delhi High Court that 'PM Cares Fund' is not an 'institution' of the government but a charitable or 'charitable trust', due to which it is under the purview of Right to Information. Can't come This is a trust which will be run by the trustees only.

Saugata Roy of Trinamool Congress says that if this fund cannot be monitored in any way, then where will transparency come from it.

He says, "Government employees, government departments, and private companies have donated to this fund. Therefore there must be transparency in its activities. Money is not spent and the dependents of those who have died due to corona." He could not even get proper compensation. It is also a matter of concern.