RTI on PM's relief fund reveals a murky system



Mysterious: The fund is treated as a private entity, but is still managed by the office of PM Manmohan Singh

An RTI application seeking details on allocation of money from the Prime Minister's Relief Fund (PMRF) has exposed a murky system of functioning where the fund is treated as a private body not answerable either to Parliament or the people of the country, but is still managed by the Prime Minister's Office.

The PMO clearly states that PMRF is a private fund running on voluntary donations from people, but the fund's PAN - AAAGP0033M - suggests it's a government body as the fourth letter "G" stands for government.

It has been more than 64 years since the Prime Minister's relief fund was set up, but a formal system to screen the lakhs of aid requests it receives every year is yet to be developed.



The absence of any clear criteria or norms to decide the distribution of the fund came to light again when a three-year-old boy with a hole in his heart was granted only Rs 50,000 for treatment, an amount hardly sufficient for a heart surgery.



According to the official website of the relief fund, it is supposed to be distributed among people hit by natural calamities or riots, or those in need of expensive life-saving medical treatment.



The toddler Rishu and his mother Sangeeta were thrown out of their house by his father after he was diagnosed with the condition. They were residents of Lucknow, and when their case came to the notice of the Samajwadi Party, a plea was made to the PM's fund on their behalf by Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav.



Disappointed with the meagre relief, Sangeeta got in touch with advocate and RTI activist Ajay Kumar Goyal, who subsequently shot off several key questions to the PM's relief fund - what are the criteria under which financial assistance was sanctioned; if Sangeeta and Rishu were granted aid because they were a BPL family; if so, why were they not directed to any government hospital for free treatment?



The PMO refused to answer Goyal, saying it was a third party and not directly involved with the process.



Answers on why there are no clear guidelines, directions or criteria to take a decision in such cases remain evasive. The fund operates entirely on the will and discretion of the Prime Minister's Office.







