Political parties can now receive anonymous donation of just Rs 2,000 -Governance Now

Political parties can now receive anonymous donation of just Rs 2,000

This is a major reform in the system that can bring in transparency in funding of parties and thus address the root cause of corruption in India.

GN Bureau | February 1, 2017

#reform #Rs 2000 #transparency #anonymous donations #Political parties

The political parties can receive donation of only Rs 2000 from anonymous sources. This was announced by finance minister Arun Jaitley in his budget speech.

This constitutes a major reform in the system that can bring in transparency in funding of parties and thus address the root cause of corruption in India.

So far, political parties were not required to disclose the source of their funds to the tune of Rs 20,000, while filing their annual returns. Some of the cash rich parties like the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) of Mayawati, in fact, had claimed that it had nothing to declare since all its funding was from small donors who have paid Rs 20,000 each.

Members welcomed Jaitley’s announcement as he said this step was in line with the recommendation of the Election Commission for cleansing the electoral system.

Besides, he said, the Reserve Bank of India will also issue electoral bonds which the donors can purchase and give to their favourite political party without getting identified. The political parties can redeem these bonds within a stipulated time. He said, for this, the RBI Act would have to be amended.

Jaitley also said the system for digital donations will be set up soon.

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