The Prime Minister’s Citizen Assistance and Relief in Emergency Situations (PM CARES) Fund, established in March 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic, was designed as a citizen-driven mechanism for emergency relief. However, its formation and functioning reveal profound contradictions between its stated ideals and actual governance. This article critically examines PM CARES as an emblem of philanthrocapitalism, executive populism, and corporate-state entanglement. Drawing on theoretical frameworks such as Foucault’s governmentality, Agamben’s state of exception, Fraser’s critique of progressive neoliberalism, and Chatterjee’s political society, the analysis illustrates how PM CARES reconfigures welfare into a spectacle of personalized legitimacy, evading democratic accountability. The case of Mr. Ajay Piramal’s reported donations—alongside alleged regulatory favors and the questionable DHFL acquisition—demonstrates how philanthropy can become a strategic substitute for justice and a vehicle for crony capitalism. Ultimately, PM CARES signifies a broader ideological reconfiguration in India’s political economy: the transformation of crisis governance into a post-democratic regime characterized by moralized coercion, symbolic aid, and technocratic opacity.
Category Archives: Activities
Our current activities concentrate on the case of Dewan Housing Finance Corporation Limited (DHFL), India. While exploring and investigating this particular case, we have found that India’s crony ruling party, gangsters, banksters as well as religious gurus and institutions are involved in the same. Therefore, to break such collusion, we have decided to deploy an “all out attack” on the existing paradigm of neoliberal market economy as well as market fundamentalism. ***DISCLAIMER: We have collected all the data from available sources on the internet as given on the official portals of media houses, websites and institutions and organizations. We are not first-hand reporters and hence, we are not liable for any inadvertent error or value-loaded statements made on those portals. All propositions have to be viewed as descriptive assertions on the given point of concern.***
Digital Satyagraha: DHFL Victims Vs. The Farce of Injustice
Operation YouTube by the DHFL Victims is a peaceful, constitutionally grounded digital protest initiated by the victims of the DHFL financial crisis. The campaign aims to raise awareness and demand accountability from Mr. Ajay Piramal and the Piramal Group, following the allegedly controversial takeover of DHFL, which left lakhs of small depositors—many of them senior citizens—financially devastated. The campaign encourages participants to engage critically with publicly available YouTube content featuring Ajay Piramal by using platform-native tools such as the dislike button and comment sections. Protesters are urged to express their dissent respectfully, truthfully, and within the boundaries of YouTube’s community guidelines and legal frameworks. Rejecting hate or trolling, Operation YouTube asserts the victims’ right to digital dissent and narrative correction. It seeks to challenge one-sided media portrayals and amplify the lived experiences of those impacted by the DHFL crisis. Through hashtags like #DislikeAndDemand and #Justice4DHFL_Victims, the campaign fosters a collective call for transparency, justice, and corporate accountability in a climate of growing crony capitalism. This multilingual initiative is inclusive, lawful, and grounded in democratic ethics—inviting depositors across the country to reclaim their voice in the digital public sphere.
DSK Legal and the Theatre of Law: A Gandhian Response to Corporate Legalism
This letter, penned by Dr. Debaprasad Bandyopadhyay on behalf of Once in a Blue Moon Academia (OBMA) on July 31, 2025, serves as a principled response to a legal notice from DSK Legal, received mere hours before a mandated court appearance in Mumbai, framing it as an act of civic resistance rather than a mere defense. It critiques the systemic issues of democratic erosion, ecological injustice, and digital rights violations in a corporatized India, highlighting the legal machinery’s tendency to favor wealth and power over truth and people, exemplified by the environmental degradation caused by corporate real-estate and pharmaceutical entities in vulnerable regions like Mumbai and rural Digwal. The letter challenges the timing and logistics of the notice, questions the ethical conduct of DSK Legal—including pagination errors, unsolicited promotions, and potential data misuse under the Digital Personal Data Protection Act, 2023—and calls for transparency and accountability, while inviting support for Anti-SLAPP legislation to protect public-interest research and whistleblowing. Rooted in Gandhian non-violent resistance, it critiques the alleged crony capitalism and philanthro-capitalism of figures like Mr. Paramavaisnava, urging a reflection on the broader corporate-state nexus and the need for a legal culture that upholds democratic values.
Slapping off the SLAPP, No Time To Take a Nap! (An Online Mass Petition)
In light of growing threats to democratic dissent in India, this petition urgently calls for the enactment of Anti-SLAPP (Strategic Lawsuits Against Public Participation) legislation and a robust data protection framework to safeguard whistleblowers, journalists, and public-interest advocates from legal intimidation and digital surveillance. With SLAPPs weaponized by state-corporate entities to suppress dissent through defamation suits and privacy breaches, and in a context of declining press freedom, weak accountability, and widespread misuse of laws like UAPA and Section 69A, the petition highlights the need for judicial oversight, tort remedies, procedural safeguards, and an independent Data Protection Authority. Drawing on international precedents and constitutional protections under Article 19, it calls on India’s highest authorities to defend free speech, uphold privacy rights, and end the culture of legal harassment.
DHFL Fraud Uncovered: It’s Time to Make the Gatekeepers Pay!
This mass appeal highlights the collective plight of lakhs of small depositors adversely impacted by the Dewan Housing Finance Corporation Ltd. (DHFL) financial scandal, exposing significant lapses in auditing, credit rating, and regulatory oversight. Despite glaring irregularities and large-scale fraud involving over ₹31,000 crore, statutory auditors and leading credit rating agencies repeatedly (and reportedly) failed in their fiduciary duties, issuing allegedly misleading assurances that betrayed public trust. The present appeal calls for urgent institutional accountability through independent disciplinary action by regulatory bodies including NFRA, ICAI, SEBI, and RBI, alongside demands for restitution mechanisms for affected depositors. It also underscores the need for enhanced transparency in insolvency resolution processes and structural reforms to prevent recurrence of such financial malfeasance. This appeal represents a broader call for systemic justice, ethical governance, and protection of vulnerable retail investors in India’s financial ecosystem.
From AAA-Ratings to Haircut-Ashes: Rating and Auditing Gaps in the DHFL “Scam”
The article discusses The DHFL scam, one of India’s largest corporate frauds (~₹34,000 crore), involved massive fund diversion through shell companies and fictitious borrowers, as exposed by a Cobrapost sting and later confirmed by KPMG’s forensic audit. Despite clear red flags, credit-rating agencies maintained high ratings, auditors overlooked accounting irregularities, and regulators like SEBI and RBI failed to act swiftly. DHFL defaulted in 2019, became the first NBFC under IBC insolvency proceedings, and was later acquired by Piramal Capital. The scam highlighted systemic failures in governance, auditing, and regulatory oversight, prompting tighter NBFC regulations, strengthened auditing standards, and enhanced corporate governance norms.
Mission SRK: Hold Brand Ambassador Accountable in the DHFL Fiasco!
The article highlights an initiative by financially abused DHFL victims who have sent letters to consumer rights authorities in India and the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO). They are specifically emphasizing on the role of Shah Rukh Khan, the company’s former brand ambassador, to recognize their plight and support their quest for justice. The victims, many of whom are senior citizens and small investors, contend that SRK’s endorsement fostered their trust in DHFL, which subsequently collapsed, erasing their life savings. This campaign seeks to hold him morally accountable while advocating for increased scrutiny and legal responsibility for celebrities endorsing financial institutions, positioning it as a battle for justice and consumer rights.
Let Them Eat Philanthropy: Piramal’s Divine Economic Paradox
This paper offers a critical, self-reflective interrogation of the intertwined narratives of corporate philanthropy, regressive taxation, and public disenfranchisement in contemporary India, with a particular focus on the Piramal Group. Juxtaposing India’s rising indirect tax burdens on the middle class with corporate tax minimization strategies, the essay exposes the paradox of ‘development’ that privatizes profit while socializing environmental and health costs. Using a blend of sarcasm, literary parody, and empirical data—ranging from GST fluctuations to the crumbling public healthcare system—it deconstructs how ‘philanthropic’ giants like Ajay Piramal reap tax benefits, wield influence through electoral funding, and contribute minimally to actual public welfare, while projecting moral superiority through CSR and token charity. The work situates this critique within broader discourses on crony capitalism, Gandhi’s misappropriated trusteeship, and the Summers Memo logic of “let them eat pollution.” This analysis ultimately questions the ethical legitimacy of corporate altruism in a system rigged for profiteering, illustrating how the economic policies of the last decade have systematically eroded public goods in favour of oligarchic consolidation.
Many Tongues, One Resistance: Plea to the Distressed DHFL Victims
This plurilingual public appeal by OBMA addresses the defrauded depositors of DHFL, emphasizing the systemic failure of justice under crony capitalism in India. While recognizing the limitations of domestic legal remedies, it calls for peaceful civil resistance and international intervention through the UN Human Rights system (OHCHR). The article encourages mass mobilization via petitions, specifically targeting celebrity endorsement accountability (Shah Rukh Khan) and audit-credit rating failures. It frames this as a collective struggle for visibility, justice, and institutional memory. Multiple translations amplify inclusivity and reach.
Don’t Let Justice Be Overruled: Honouring NCLT and NCLAT in the DHFL Debacle
In the long and convoluted journey of the DHFL insolvency saga, two quasi-judicial bodies—NCLT and NCLAT—stood out for their timely, bold, and procedurally sound interventions. From directing a reconsideration of the 100% offer to identifying discriminatory irregularities in the resolution process, these tribunals prioritized justice over expediency. This post is both a thanksgiving and a public appeal: NCLT and NCLAT must not allow their principled findings to be buried by later Supreme Court overruling. In an era of post-truth, let institutional memory resist judicial amnesia.
Once in a Blue Moon Academia 