The Public Accounts Committee (PAC) failed to conclude the examination of the PM CARES fund that was established to help mitigate the coronavirus crisis, NDTV reported.
According to the sources of NDTV present in the meeting, Bharatiya Janata Party, with the help of its political allies including Biju Janata Dal leader Bhartuhari Mahtani blocked the proposal for scrutiny. The opposition could not muster enough support with DMK leader TR Balu being one of the few to support the proposal.
The parties impeded the proposal of Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury, a leader of the Congress party in the Lok Sabha, to examine the government’s handling of the pandemic.
Sources further revealed that the attempts were made to prevent the PM CARES fund come into PAC’s radar, a committee which has earlier examined significant cases like the 2G spectrum.
PM CARES fund is already not under the audit of the Comptroller and Auditor General of India (CAG).
Senior leader Bhupender Yadav blocked Chowdhury's proposal by claiming that the PM CARES fund is under the parliament and not privy to the committee.
Recently, The BJP-led Centre defended the PM CARES fund, which remains exclusive to the National Disaster Response Fund (NDRF).
In an affidavit filed in the Supreme Court, the government stated as cited in the Indian Expres report, “There does exist a National Disaster Response Fund as stipulated under Section 46 of Disaster Management (DM) Act, 2005 which so far consisted of the fund in the form of budgetary provisions made by the Central government in NDRF and state governments and Central government in State Disaster Response Funds without any private contribution.”