Dikhyaa Mohanty 
A group of 100 civil servants wrote an open letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi about the lack of transparency in the PM Cares Fund and later asking for the details of the financial receipts and expenditures.
According to the reports, the open letter from 100 civil servants stated – “We have been keenly following the ongoing debate about the Citizen Assistance and Relief in Emergency Situations, or ‘PM-CARES’, — a fund created for the benefit of people affected by the COVID pandemic. Both the purpose for which it has been created as well as the way it has been administered has left numerous questions unanswered.”
The letter further stated – The details under RTI because the PM Cares Fund is not a Public Authority under the ambit of Section 2(h) of the RTI Act, 2005. If it is not a public authority, how have the Prime Minister, Home Minister, Defence Minister, and Finance Minister, as members of the government, lent their designations and official positions to it? Why are they Trustees in their official capacity. The position and stature of the Prime Minister must be kept intact by ensuring total transparency in all dealings the Prime Minister is associated with.”
The open letter clearly states that the PM Cares Fund doesn’t have any transparency and the reason for probity and adherence to standards of public accountability. The former civil servants also expressed that the financial details of receipts and expenditures should be in the public domain so that there will be complete transparency with the details.
S C Behar, K Sujatha Rao, and A S Dulat, who are the retired bureaucrats, stated that the purpose for which the fund was created and the reason behind the administration has left many questions unanswered.
The report further informs that the letter was signed by former IAS officers Anita Agnihotri, SP Ambrose, Sharad Behar, Sajjad Hassan, Harsh Mander, P Joy Oommen, Aruna Roy, former diplomats Madhu Bhaduri, KP Fabian, Deb Mukharji, Sujatha Singh, and former IPS officers AS Dulat, PGJ Nampoothiri, and Julio Ribeiro among others.
The Government of India introduced the Prime Minister’s Fund for Citizen Assistance and Relief in Emergency Situations (PM-CARES) where it will provide financial aid to any kind of emergency arising in the months heralding the Novel Coronavirus pandemic.
News Source – IANS
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