Times of India: New Delhi: Saturday,
22 August 2020.
Information
activists have questioned the government's decision to place the PM-CARES Fund
in the seventh schedule of the Companies Act in May to underline its
eligibility to receive funds under corporate social responsibility as a
retrospective decision intended to shield it from disclosure under the Right to
Information Act.
The
government has been stating that PM CARES Fund is not a public authority under
RTI. However, a ministry of corporate affairs (MoCA) office memorandum, dated
March 28, is being cited to point out that contributions by companies will
qualify as CSR expenditure as the Companies Act allows for such contributions
if the fund is set up by the central government for socio-economic development
and relief work and that this also means it is under RTI.
MoCA’s
March 28 office memorandum received in response to an RTI application filed in
June by activist Anjali Bhardwaj is being cited by her to say “if a body is set
up by the government, it qualifies as a public authority under the RTI Act”.
Bhardwaj says the PM CARES Fund had a corpus of Rs 3,076 crore on March 31,
2020, of which Rs 3,075 crore was listed as “voluntary contributions”,
according to its official website.
In June,
Bhardwaj's application to PMO seeking a copy of all files related to the PM
CARES Fund led to a response that the Fund is not a public authority under the
ambit of Section 2(h) of the RTI Act, 2005. Not satisfied with the response,
she has filed an appeal stating that “if any files related to PM CARES Fund are
held by or under control of PMO, which is a public authority, it is duty bound
to furnish them as per the provisions of RTI Act”. The government has said the
fund is a public charitable trust.
As per
MoCA, on March 28 the ministry issued an office memorandum on the clarification
on contribution to PM CARES Fund as eligible CSR. The office memorandum stated:
“Item no. (viii) of the Schedule VII of the Companies Act, 2013, which
enumerates activities that may be undertaken by companies in discharge of their
CSR obligations, provides that contribution to any fund set up by the central
government for socio-economic development and relief qualifies as CSR
expenditure... Accordingly, it is clarified that any contribution made to the
PM CARES Fund shall qualify as CSR expenditure under the Companies Act 2013.”
On May
26, the central government amended item (viii) of Schedule VII of the Companies
Act through a notification to insert PM CARES Fund. The amended version now
reads as- “(viii) contribution to the Prime Minister's National Relief Fund or
Prime Minister’s Citizen Assistance and Relief in Emergency Situations Fund (PM
CARES Fund) or any other fund set up by the central government for socio economic
development and relief and welfare of the schedule caste, tribes, other
backward classes, minorities and women.”
This
notification further stated that it shall be deemed to have come into force
retrospectively from March 28.
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