The Prime Minister’s Office has informed the Lok Sabha Secretariat that questions related to the Prime Minister’s Citizen Assistance and Relief in Emergency Situations (PM CARES) and two other funds cannot be admitted in Parliament’s Lower House, The Indian Express reported.
According to the report by Indian Express’ Asad Rehman, the PMO late last month told LS Secretariat that questions concerning PM CARES, the Prime Minister’s National Relief Fund (PMNRF) and the National Defence Fund are not permissible under Rule 41 of the Rules of Procedure and Conduct of Business in the Lok Sabha.
The office cited two specific provisions:
Rule 41(2)(viii): Questions cannot relate to matters that are not primarily the concern of the Government of India
Rule 41(2)(xvii): Questions cannot raise issues relating to bodies or persons not primarily responsible to the Government of India
According to the last official PM CARES Fund’s receipts and payments statement, the fund held a closing balance of Rs 6,283.7 crore as of March 2023.
The PMO’s reasoning is that these funds are created entirely from voluntary public contributions and do not receive budgetary support from the government, the IE report stated. Since no government money is allocated, matters related to them are considered outside the direct purview of parliamentary questioning.
What is the PM CARES Fund?
The PM CARES Fund was established in March 2020 during the Covid-19 pandemic as a dedicated mechanism to handle emergency and distress situations. It has since been used to support pandemic response measures, healthcare infrastructure, disaster relief and other emergency interventions.
However, the fund has remained politically contentious. Opposition parties have repeatedly questioned its transparency, audit mechanisms and necessity, arguing that an existing relief mechanism — the PMNRF — already served similar purposes.
How is it different from PMNRF and NDF?
The Prime Minister’s National Relief Fund, created in 1948, provides immediate financial assistance to victims of natural disasters, accidents and riots. Like PM CARES, it is also financed through voluntary donations rather than government budget allocations.
On the other hand, the National Defence Fund (NDF) supports the welfare of personnel from the Armed Forces, including paramilitary forces, as well as their dependents. As per its official website, the fund is managed by an Executive Committee headed by the Prime Minister, with the Defence, Finance and Home Ministers serving as members.
The PMO’s latest clarification has placed all the three funds in the same procedural category for parliamentary purposes.
RTI status and legal debates
The government has consistently maintained that the PM CARES Fund does not fall under the Right to Information (RTI) Act, as it receives contributions from private individuals and organisations.
In 2021, the Union government told the Delhi High Court that the fund cannot be classified as either the “State” or a “public authority” under the RTI framework.
Subsequent court proceedings have reinforced this position. In January 2024, the Delhi High Court ruled that the Central Information Commission did not have the authority to order disclosure of certain PM CARES-related information under provisions of the Income Tax Act.