PM CARES Finally Releases Audit Statements of Last Two Years; Rijiju Praises Delhi Police Because ‘No One Died’ During Youth Protests; The Stark Communalism of Anand Math, the Source of Vande Mataram
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Snapshot of the day
August 18, 2026
Sidharth Bhatia
Two years after it was supposed to publish its audit statements for FY 2023-24, the mysterious and closely guarded PM CARES Fund has uploaded its statements for that fiscal as well as for FY 24-25. These reveal that the fund earned Rs 904.9 crore in ‘23-24 and Rs 1,279.9 crore in ‘24-25, and spent a far smaller amount in both years, at Rs 15.59 crore and Rs 87.85 lakh respectively. At the end of FY 24-25 the fund had Rs 8,452 crore left with it. It has received hefty amounts under the heading ‘refund from implementing agencies’, but that’s about all that we, the public, know about that: it is not known which agencies refunded the money or for what reason. The statements do mention the existence of ‘accompanying notes’ to the disclosure, but these have not been uploaded, notes information activist Anjali Bhardwaj.
The disclosure comes against the background of the Modi government going to unusual lengths to keep the fund’s activities secret. It is exempt from the purview of RTI on the grounds that it is not a public authority under the RTI Act, but this is even as the prime minister chairs the fund in an ex-officio capacity, as cabinet ministers are its trustees and despite it having received corporate social responsibility funds from PSUs, Bhardwaj has recalled. And during the budget session of parliament this year, the PMO had suggested to the Lok Sabha secretariat that it disallow questions about PM CARES.
The first special investigation team formed to look into the Ram Mandir embezzlement case has submitted its final report to the state government, which in turn ‘examined’ it and ‘handed it over’ to the Mandir’s own trust. This SIT had found those responsible for overseeing fund collection at the temple to have failed in ensuring adherence to protocol, and had acknowledged serious lapses despite internal audits repeatedly flagging concerns. The Hindustan Times reports citing unnamed sources that the final report ‘does not name former trust general secretary Champat Rai or ex-trust member Anil Mishra’, both of whom had resigned amid public pressure. A second SIT is carrying on its investigation of the matter.
Officers of the Gujarat police showed up at journalist Ravi Nair’s Delhi home yesterday and seized a device belonging to him (Nair was in Kerala at the time) but also devices belonging to his son and his colleague Sachi Hegde, who just happened to be there at the time. They did this in connection with a case they have lodged against a complaint by Adani Ports and SEZ, which accuses Nair of forgery in reporting on the LIC investment matter for the Washington Post. Neither Nair’s son nor Hegde are named in the FIR. The Gujarat police did not disclose the hash values of the devices they’ve taken, which contravenes the Supreme Court’s nudge for guidelines over seized devices.
The Cockroach Janta Party was scheduled to organise a meet-up in Kolkata this afternoon but could not, with the outfit’s spokesperson Ashutosh Ranka saying that the owners of the Bharat Sabha Hall where the event was to take place pulled out after being threatened by BJP leaders. “Six other halls refused stating massive pressure from the state,” Ranka alleged, calling the ruling party “scared [of] the cockroaches”. For its part the Bharat Sabha has claimed that the CJP failed to book the hall in advance and denied receiving threats from the BJP.
We must all praise the Delhi police, Union minister Kiren Rijiju declared today, because nobody died during the CJP-led protests in the capital city. “Not a single person died, not a single person suffered a broken bone. Not even one protester is in the hospital with a serious injury,” Rijiju told ANI in an interview. While the lack of deaths is a dubious grounds for praise, the other ones are closer to being outright disingenuous: the
