Electoral bonds: Not quite anonymous -Governance Now

Electoral bonds: Not quite anonymous

The purchaser would be allowed to buy electoral bonds only on due fulfillment of all the KYC norms and by making payment from a bank account

GN Bureau | January 3, 2018

#Arun Jaitley #party fund #election #Electoral bonds

Electoral bonds, which is yet another attempt to cleanse the system of political funding, is a classic case of something is better than nothing. In a way it is anonymous as it won’t carry the payee’s name, but the authorities concerned would know when you purchase those bonds.

What exactly is an electoral bond?

Electoral bond would be a bearer instrument in the nature of a Promissory Note and an interest free banking instrument. A citizen of India or a body incorporated in India will be eligible to purchase the bond.

Why electoral bonds?

Finance minister Arun Jaitley in his budget speech 2017 said that there is a need to cleanse the system of political funding in India.

He spoke of amendment to the Reserve Bank of India Act to enable the issuance of electoral bonds in accordance with a scheme that the Government of India would frame in this regard.

Is it anonymous?

There’s a catch here. The purchaser would be allowed to buy electoral bond(s) only on due fulfilment of all the extant KYC norms and by making payment from a bank account. It will not carry the name of payee.

This essentially means that while the general public as well as the opposition parties may not know who bought the bonds, the government and the authorities concerned will know since KYC will have to be filled up. So, in a way it is anonymous.

But, why this secrecy?

Past experience had shown that once the names were disclosed, there was a tendency to shift to cash donations.

What about the shelf life of the bonds?

Electoral bonds would have a life of only 15 days during which it can be used for making donation only to the political parties registered under section 29A of the Representation of the Peoples Act, 1951 (43 of 1951) and which secured not less than one percent of the votes polled in the last general election to the House of the People or a Legislative Assembly.

The 15 day life has been done so that the electoral bonds do not turn into a parallel currency.

And where do you buy it from?

Electoral bond (s) would be issued/purchased for any value, in multiples of Rs.1,000, Rs.10,000, Rs.1,00,000, Rs.10,00,000 and Rs.1,00,00,000 from the specified branches of the State Bank of India (SBI).

When can you purchase these bonds?

The electoral bonds shall be available for purchase for a period of 10 days each in the months of January, April, July and October, as may be specified by the central government. An additional period of 30 days shall be specified by the central government in the year of the general election to the House of People.

Comments

Other News

Maharashtra set to get first Shiv Sainik CM

The conundrum in Maharashtra is moving towards resolution, as the Shiv Sena has secured the support of the ideological opponents, the Congress and the NCP, to form the government, after the BJP, the party with the most seats, failed to muster the numbers. NCP chief Sharad Pawar has taken the

Vanni: In struggle of memory, pictures complement words

Gotabaya Rajapaksa, the new president of Sri Lanka, won the November elections that were held amid continued polarization in the island nation. As defence secretary, he had led the government’s decisive fight against the LTTE rebels in 2009, in which most of the guerrilla leaders were killed. Thus en

How Sahitya Akademi promotes India lit abroad

Sahitya Akademi, the autonomous organization under the ministry of culture, has been silently promoting Indian literature abroad through a host of activities, including promotion of translations. The Akademi has helped translate much-talked about Bangla novel ‘Herbert’ by Nabarun

Hotel responsible for vehicle in valet parking: supreme court

Once a guest hands over the car keys to the valet, the vehicle is under the hotel’s responsibility, and it will have to compensate any damage to it, the supreme court has ruled. In a judgment under the contract law, a bench of justices Mohan M Shantanagoudar and Ajay Rastogi has upheld

Homebuyers have filed 1,821 cases against builders

Amid oversupply, slackening demand and financial troubles, many builders have not been able to deliver homes to buyers, leaving the latter in the lurch. The buyers in turn have taken recourse to filing cases against builders: a total of 1,821 cases under the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (IBC) 2016 were p

Rajya Sabha looks back and forward on historic occasion

The beginning of its historic 250th session gave the upper house of parliament an opportunity to take stock of its past and its future, the challenges ahead and the ways to meet them. The house on Monday took up a discussion on ‘The Role of Rajya Sabha in Indian Polity and the Way Forw