Rs 20,000 annually to every school-going child orphaned by the COVID-19 pandemic — this was one of the major promises made by the Union government as part of the PM CARES Fund. But in the financial year 2024-2025, only a mere Rs 88 lakh was released for this purpose. The amount, if divided among the 3,383 children the government listed as beneficiaries of the PM CARES for Children Scheme, would come to only Rs Rs 2,596 per child. 

In fact, this Rs 88 lakh – making up 0.001 percent of the Fund’s corpus – was the only amount the Union government spent during 2024-25. By the end of FY ’25, the Fund had Rs 8,452 crore. Around 93 percent of this is kept in fixed deposits.  

The numbers were revealed when the PM CARES Fund released its receipts and payments accounts for the last two financial years, 2023-24 and 2024-25, after a long delay. 

The numbers that don’t add up

The PM CARES for Children scheme was launched in May 2021, with Prime Minister Narendra Modi promising support for children who lost parents during the COVID pandemic. It promises assistance for education, health insurance, support for boarding and lodging, and Rs 10 lakh when they turn 18. The PM CARES for Children website says 4,543 applications have been approved so far. 

The Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment told the Lok Sabha in December 2025 that under the PM CARES for Children scheme, an annual scholarship of Rs 20,000 is provided for each child – a monthly stipend of Rs 1,000 plus an annual allowance of Rs 8,000 towards school fees, books, uniform, shoes, etc. 

But spending on PM CARES for Children has dropped drastically, from Rs 346 crore in FY ’23 to Rs 15 crore in FY ’24, to just Rs 88 lakh in FY ’25. 

The Union government claims it transferred these funds to 3,383 children in 2024-25. This should make up a total of Rs 6.76 crore. But the amount released to the scheme in FY ’25 , according to the PM CARES report, was Rs 87,84,840. 

This would amount to only Rs 2,596 for each of the 3,383 children, or Rs 20,000 for just 439 kids.

93 percent in fixed deposits

The reports also show that the Fund has moved a big chunk of its corpus into a fixed deposit. By the end of FY ’24, it had Rs 6,641 crore in fixed deposits, on........

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