PM CARES releases Rs 88 lakh for children, just 0.001% of its Rs 8,452-crore corpus: Audit report

Discrepancies have been found in the distribution of PM CARES assistance meant for children orphaned by the COVID-19 pandemic, as instead of the declared spending of Rs 20,000 annually for every school-going child, data showed that only a mere Rs 88 lakh was released for this purpose in the financial year 2024-25.

Spending drastically decreased from its launch in 2021, from Rs 346 crore in FY ’23 to Rs 15 crore in FY ’24 and to just Rs 88 lakh in FY ’25, contrary to the Union Government’s claims that it had transferred these funds to 3,383 children in 2024-25, which should have amounted to a total of Rs 6.76 crore, but the PM CARES report showed that the amount released during 2024-25 was Rs 87,84,840.

The PM CARES for Children scheme was launched in May 2021 with the aim of assisting children who lost one or both of their parents during the pandemic with their education, health insurance, boarding and lodging support, and a corpus of Rs 10 lakh when beneficiaries turn 18.

According to the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment, Rs 20,000 will be given to each listed child annually as a scholarship that includes a monthly stipend of Rs 1,000 and Rs 8,000 a year towards school fees, books, uniforms, footwear, and other educational requirements.

Despite the government’s claim that it had transferred the amount to 3,383 children, the total amount should come to around Rs 6.76 crore if Rs 20,000 had been spent on each child, but the government’s own data shows that the PM CARES receipts and payments account records only Rs 87,84,840 released to the scheme.

Divided among the 3,383 children, the amount works out at approximately Rs 2,596 per child, barely 13 per cent of the declared annual entitlement.

The figures emerged after PM CARES released its receipts and payments accounts for FY24 and FY25 following a prolonged delay, with the accounts showing that the Fund held Rs 8,452 crore at the end of FY25, of which Rs 7,847 crore, about 93 per cent of its corpus, was placed in fixed deposits, while only Rs 605 crore remained in savings accounts.

During FY25, the Fund earned Rs 469 crore in interest from fixed deposits, almost matching the Rs 479 crore received in domestic donations, besides Rs 325 crore received as refunds from implementing agencies, prompting RTI activists to question the absence of details about the agencies making these refunds and the original purpose for which the funds were released.

Critics have also questioned why such a substantial corpus remains largely invested while states facing floods, landslides, cyclones and other disasters have sought greater financial assistance.

PM CARES, established in March 2020 as a public charitable trust, has remained outside the ambit of the Right to Information Act, with repeated requests to make its audit reports public being denied, while only summary receipts and payments accounts have been released.

Transparency campaigners argue that greater disclosure is necessary, particularly because the Fund received substantial contributions from government employees and private companies, including through corporate social responsibility allocations.