The statements show that the fund had a closing balance of Rs 8,452 crore at the end of FY 2024-25. However, the total spending during the fiscal stood at Rs 87.9 lakh - a mere 0.01% of the corpus. In the previous year, the fund reported spending of Rs 15.6 crore. Both payments were made towards the PM CARES for Children scheme.

The PM Cares Fund was set up during the Covid years, in 2020, as a public charitable trust to provide relief during health emergencies, natural disasters or man-made calamities. Its stated objectives also included the creation of relevant infrastructure and financial support for research. It is estimated that the fund received about Rs 13,000 crore in its first three years. Domestic donations and foreign contributions declined in 2024-25, but the corpus expanded to Rs 8,452 crore by March 31, 2025. Of this, Rs 7,846 crore is in fixed deposits, earning over Rs 469 crore in interest during the fiscal. Criticism of the relief mechanism has centred on the minuscule spending, given that the country faced multiple challenges over the past six years when contributions from the corpus could have significantly boosted the relief and assistance efforts. The Union government has not been forthcoming about the source of contributions. The lack of transparency regarding the fund's operational details and areas of expenditure has also been a point of contention; this is the first disclosure of audited financial statements since FY 2022-23.

A fund run on public contributions, operated from the Prime Minister's Office (PMO) with the Prime Minister and senior cabinet ministers as ex officio trustees, needs more transparency in its working. The government has maintained that the fund does not come under the ambit of the Right to Information (RTI) because it is not a public body defined under the Act. In February this year, the PMO told the Lok Sabha Secretariat that questions about the fund are not admissible in Parliament. This means information would remain limited to what the government chooses to make public. The numbers tell a story of serious inaction. It will take a structural shift towards transparency and accountability to restore public trust. Regular disclosures on contributions and expenditure will be an important first step in that shift.