PM CARES Fund, PMNRF & National Defence Fund (NDF)

The Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) has informed the Lok Sabha Secretariat that Parliamentary questions and matters related to the PM CARES Fund, the Prime Minister’s National Relief Fund (PMNRF) and the National Defence Fund (NDF) are not admissible under the Rules of Procedure and Conduct of Business in the Lok Sabha.

According to the reasoning conveyed by the PMO, these questions are inadmissible because the corpus of all three funds is constituted entirely through voluntary public contributions and does not involve any allocation from the Consolidated Fund of India.

PM CARES Fund

The Prime Minister’s Citizen Assistance and Relief in Emergency Situations Fund (PM CARES Fund) was set up on March 27, 2020, following the outbreak of Covid-19, to raise resources for national emergencies.

• It is registered as a Public Charitable Trust under the Registration Act, 1908, in New Delhi.
• The fund is not created under the Constitution or by any law enacted by Parliament or a State Legislature.
• The Prime Minister is the ex-officio Chairman, while the Defence, Home and Finance Ministers are ex-officio Trustees.
• The fund consists entirely of voluntary contributions from individuals and organisations and does not receive budgetary support.
• Donations qualify for 100% tax exemption under Section 80G of the Income Tax Act, 1961, and are also counted as Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) expenditure under the Companies Act, 2013.

National Defence Fund (NDF)

The National Defence Fund is used for the welfare of members of the Armed Forces, including paramilitary forces, and their dependents.

• It is administered by an Executive Committee, with the Prime Minister as Chairperson and the Defence, Finance and Home Ministers as Members.
• The fund’s accounts are maintained with the Reserve Bank of India.
• Like PM CARES, the NDF is entirely dependent on voluntary public contributions and receives no budgetary support.

Prime Minister’s National Relief Fund (PMNRF)

The PMNRF was established in January 1948 with public contributions to assist displaced persons from Pakistan after Partition.

• Its resources are now primarily used to provide immediate relief to families affected by natural calamities such as floods, cyclones and earthquakes, as well as victims of major accidents and riots.
• The fund is not constituted by Parliament and consists entirely of public contributions, with no budgetary support.
• The Prime Minister is the Chairman of PMNRF.
• PMNRF enjoys income tax exemptions under Sections 10 and 139 of the Income Tax Act, 1961, and donations qualify for 100% deduction under Section 80G.