New Delhi: Rahul Gandhi, the leader of the Congress, said on Wednesday that public sector businesses had contributed to the PM CARES Fund, but that the government had not provided an accounting, so he asked where the people's money was going. Gandhi made the claim in a Hindi Facebook post that the PM CARES Fund was money taken from the public by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and for which the government did not give an account.
He stated, "Neither anyone knows how much misuse has been done, nor has there been any visible positive effect of it."
He asserted that this fund has received contributions from thousands of crores of dollars from the nation's public sector entities in addition to the hard-earned money of individuals.
The former head of Congress stated, "This money also belongs to the public, it belongs to the taxpayers."
"So far, Rs 2,900 crore has been put in PMCares by government companies, out of which Rs. 1,500 crore came from only the first five companies. ONGC -- Rs 370 crore, NTPC -- Rs 330 crores, PGCI -- Rs 275 crore, IOCL -- Rs 265 crore, Power Finance Commission -- Rs 222 crore," Gandhi claimed.
The leader of the Congress stated that the funds invested by these businesses were intended for use in advancing the nation.
"But neither there is no estimation of the help provided through it, nor of development in anyone's life. Where is this money looted from the public going," Gandhi asked.
On Tuesday, the Congress made the claim that the PM CARES Fund is secretive and demanded explanations for why it is not audited or given access to information (RTI) despite receiving 60% of its funding from public sector businesses.
Congress spokesperson Abhishek Singhvi had requested more transparency and accountability in the fund, which gets donations to the tune of Rs 5,000 crore, and said it ought to be submitted to Right to Information (RTI) and upheld by legal sanctity.