Kharge Challenges PM CARES Transparency Over Rs 8,452 Crore Surplus

The financial statement for the 2024-25 period reveals that while the fund maintains a closing balance of Rs 8,452 crore, expenditure for the same year reached only Rs 87.85 lakh. Kharge took to social media to argue that an emergency resource intended for immediate public relief should not function as a dormant reserve. He further linked this lack of transparency to broader concerns regarding the management of high-profile donations, including those allocated for the Ram Mandir.

Established in March 2020 during the onset of the pandemic, the fund was designed to provide rapid assistance for national health crises. However, its structure—remaining outside conventional government audit channels—has drawn consistent fire from opposition figures. Kharge is now pressuring Prime Minister Narendra Modi to clarify why these donations evade standard parliamentary scrutiny and to explain the rationale behind accumulating such significant wealth while immediate relief efforts remain limited.