PM-CARES Fund likely to be used for vaccination of 3 crore healthcare, frontline workers

12-01-2021

PM-CARES Fund, set up in March to deal with the coronavirus situation, is likely to bear the cost of COVID-19 vaccines for healthcare and frontline workers. The Prime Minister's Citizens Assistance and Relief in Emergency Situation (PM-CARES) Fund was created in March last year with the primary objective to deal with the emergency situation caused by the COVID-19 outbreak and provide relief to those affected. The much-anticipated nationwide inoculation drive against the COVID-19 outbreak will kick off on January 16 and priority will be given to the healthcare and the frontline workers, estimated to be around three crore. Prime Minister Narendra Modi had on Monday said the cost of vaccination for one crore healthcare workers and two crore frontline workers would be borne by the Central government in the first phase of the drive. The Drugs Controller General of India (DCGI), the country�s drugs regulator has given its nod to two coronavirus vaccines - Oxford�s Covishield, manufactured by the Serum Institute in India, and indigenously developed Covaxin of Bharat Biotech, for restricted emergency use.

Opposition's repeated attacks at Centre over PM-CARES
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The opposition, including the Congress party, has time and again launched attacks at the Centre demanding that donations received by the fund be made public. However, the government has refused to share its details and termed it as something that doesn't come under the government's jurisdiction. Congress leader Abhishek Manu Singhvi in June last year said that the PM-CARES Fund has received donations from Chinese companies which is "alarming for the national security". "...What is most worrying and alarming for national security is the fact of donations received by Prime Minister Modi from the Chinese Companies in his (seemingly personal) PM-CARES Fund. No one knows the constitution or the operational framework of the PM-CARES Fund. No one knows how it is controlled or money given to it utilized," he had said in a statement.

'PM-CARES Fund for coronavirus fight'
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However, the Centre has rubbished the allegations and maintained that donations were being used only in the fight against COVID-19. Union minister Ravi Shankar Prasad had in August 2020, said that transparency is writ large in PM-CARES Fund both in terms of legal requirement and transparent management of funds received on a voluntary basis. Giving details about the utilisation of donations, he said, �Till now Rs 3,100 crore rupees have been given from PM-CARES Fund to fight coronavirus. 50,000 ventilators worth Rs 2,000 crore have been provided to take care of COVID patients through the fund and Rs 1,000 crore to help migrants and Rs 100 crore towards vaccine development.�