पीएम केयर्स फ़ंड: ख़ज़ाने में हज़ारों करोड़ जमा लेकिन ख़र्च हुए सिर्फ़ कुछ लाख, उठे सवाल

According to a report by BBC Hindi, questions have been raised regarding the utilization of the PM CARES Fund, which was established to provide relief during emergency situations. The report highlights that while the fund began with an initial corpus of 2.25 lakh rupees, it had accumulated 8,452 crore rupees by March 31, 2025. Critics and observers have pointed to the disparity between the total funds collected and the amount reported as spent on relief efforts.

The PM CARES Fund (Prime Minister's Citizen Assistance and Relief in Emergency Situations Fund) was created in March 2020, primarily in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. It is a public charitable trust chaired by the Prime Minister of India, with senior cabinet ministers serving as trustees. Since its inception, the fund has been a subject of intense political scrutiny, with opposition parties frequently calling for greater transparency regarding its audit processes and the specific criteria for fund disbursement.

Supporters of the fund maintain that it serves as a vital, flexible resource for national emergencies, operating independently of the Consolidated Fund of India. However, the latest figures cited by BBC Hindi have reignited discussions in the public sphere about the efficiency of the fund's deployment. As of now, the government has not issued a new statement in response to these specific claims, though it has previously defended the fund's management as transparent and subject to independent auditing.