Bhopal (Madhya Pradesh): A day after the Prime Minister's Office (PMO) through an affidavit informed the Delhi High Court that the PM CARES Fund is not a fund of the Government of India and the amount does not go in the Consolidated Fund of India, the Congress party on Saturday levelled serious allegations against the Centre.
Senior Congress leader and former minister Sajjan Singh Verma said that money is being collected illegally from corporate houses in the name of Prime Minister Modi and being saved in PM Cares Fund. The amount collected, is being used for the BJP favourites.
He said that it is a private fund but unethically the Centre is using the government machinery and the PMO website which is also official. Meanwhile, Congress has demanded a fair investigation into this matter under the Delhi High Court. It also said that the amount should be deposited in the government fund for the people.
PMO also said that PM CARES Trust is a charitable Trust not created by or under the Constitution of India or by any law made by the Parliament or by any State legislature.
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"The state trust functions with transparency and its funds are audited by an auditor who is a chartered accountant drawn from the panel prepared by the Comptroller and Auditor General of India," said the affidavit filed by an Under-Secretary at the PMO.
The affidavit was filed in response to a petition seeking a direction to declare the PM CARES Fund a 'State' under the Constitution to ensure transparency in its functioning. The next date for the hearing has been fixed for September 27.
