Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday directed the board of trustees of the PM CARES fund to work with a broader vision during distress situations and effectively respond to emergency situations not only through relief assistance but also by taking mitigation measures and capacity building.

The PM CARES trustees further decided to nominate eminent persons for the constitution of the Advisory Board to PM CARES Fund, which includes Rajiv Mehrishi, former Comptroller and Auditor General of India; Sudha Murthy, former chairperson of Infosys Foundation, and Anand Shah, Co-founder of Teach for India and former CEO of Indicorps and Piramal Foundation.

They also briefed PM Modi about various initiatives undertaken with the help of these funds.

It was stated that a PM CARES for Children scheme was launched with the help of these funds, which provides support to as many as 4,345 children.

During the meeting, PM Modi expressed confidence in new trustees and advisors by saying, “Participation of new trustees and advisors will help provide a wider perspective to the functioning of the PM CARES and their experience can bring in better responsiveness to the public needs.”

The trustees have appreciated the role played by the fund at crucial times in the country while the Prime Minister praised the contribution of country persons to the PM CARES Fund.

Keeping in mind the need for having a dedicated fund with the primary objective of dealing with any kind of emergency or distress situation, like the COVID-19 pandemic, and to provide relief to the affected, a public charitable trust under the name of Prime Minister’s Citizen Assistance and Relief in Emergency Situations Fund (PM CARES Fund) was set up.

PM CARES Fund has been registered as a Public Charitable Trust.

PM CARES Fund’s trust deed was registered under the Registration Act, 1908 in New Delhi on March 27, 2020.

PM Modi is the ex-officio Chairman of the PM CARES Fund and the Minister of Defence, Minister of Home Affairs and Minister of Finance, Government of India are ex-officio Trustees of the Fund.

The meeting was conducted in the presence of Union Home Minister Amit Shah and Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, who were the trustees along with the new trustees appointed.

Amongst the new trustees appointed were Justice K.T. Thomas, former Judge of Supreme Court; Karia Munda, former Deputy Speaker; and Ratan Tata.