Rahul reiterates demand for audit of Pm-cares fund

NEWDELHI: Former Congress president Rahul Gandhi on Saturday reiterated his demand for an audit of the Prime Minister’s Citizen Assistance and Relief in Emergency Situations (Pm-cares) Fund, created in March to fund relief measures aimed at easing the distress caused by the Covid-19 pandemic and lockdown.

“The #Pmcares fund has received huge contributions from PSUS {public sector undertakings} & major public utilities like the Railways,” Gandhi tweeted.

“It’s important that PM ensures the fund is audited & that the record of money received and spent is available to the public,” added Gandhi, who voiced a similar demand at a news conference on Friday. “The Pm-cares Fund should be audited. We should know about the donors and the donations. We should know who gave how much. There is no problem in saying that,” he had said.

Last week, he had hit out at the railways for charging fare to transport migrant workers returning to their home states and giving donation to the Pm-cares Fund.

Earlier in the day, the Congress accused both the Centre and the Delhi government of being non-transparent in reporting the coronavirus cases.

Senior Congress leader Ajay Maken told reporters that there was “confusion” within the Centre in its fight against the Covid-19, and asked how India would tackle the pandemic if officials continued to speak in different voices. Maken referred to “differing” comments made by some officials on the Covid-19 situation in the country and urged the government to tell the people clearly about the exact state to enable them to prepare accordingly.

He said there should be more coordination between states and the central government, and urged the Centre to spell out a clear exit strategy for the lockdown.