Do donors to PM CARES fund include Chinese firms, asks Chidambaram

In a series of tweets, former Union Finance Minister and senior Congress leader P Chidambaram raised questions over the functioning and donations made to the Prime Minister's Citizen Assistance and Relief in Emergency Situations (PM CARES) fund. There are other aspects of PM-CARES fund including transparency, disclosure and management practices on which the Supreme Court had no occasion to pronounce judgement, he observed.

New Delhi: Raising several questions over the functioning and donations made to the Prime Minister's Citizen Assistance and Relief in Emergency Situations (PM CARES) fund, senior Congress leader P Chidambaram on Wednesday said that while the Supreme Court order on the matter is final, the judgement will be contested in academic circles for a long time.

Chidambaram, taking to Twitter, said that there are other aspects of PM-CARES fund including transparency, disclosure and management practices on which the Supreme Court had no occasion to pronounce judgement.

"Supreme Court has delivered a judgement on the legality and legal accountability of PM-CARES FUND. The judgement is final but will be contested for a long time in academic circles," Chidambaram tweeted.

He also asked who are the donors who gave Rs 3,076 crore in the first five days in March 2020 and questioned whether the donors include Chinese firms. He also raised the query about the amount received since April 1, 2020, and the donors.

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"There are other aspects of PM-CARES FUND on which the Supreme Court had no occasion to pronounce judgement. These are transparency, disclosure and management practices concerning the Fund," Chidambaram tweeted.

"What is the procedure to allocate money from the Fund to various COVID-19 mitigating activities? Who are the recipients of money from the Fund since its inception?" he added.

In another tweet, Chidambaram said, "Are utilisation certificates (UC) demanded and received from the recipients? If the Fund is beyond the ambit of RTI, who will answer these vital questions?"

Chidambaram's remarks come a day after the Supreme Court refused to order the transfer of funds from PM CARES to the National Disaster Response Fund observing that they are two different funds with different objectives and purposes.

(ANI Report)