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.

Comments

Other News

TRP-driven model bred irresponsibility: Sudhir Chaudhary

News profession is organic in nature, requires responsibility and discipline, and there is no room for mistake. To maintain high standards of accuracy you need discipline and hygiene in the newsroom. Sudhir Chaudhary, editor in chief of Zee News, Zee Business and Wion, has said that a TRP-driven business m

This Mumbai NGO empowers children with skills

When Dharmendra Pandey, a fruit-seller had to leave Mumbai after the imposition of the lockdown during the Covid-19 pandemic, and return to his village in Uttar Pradesh, he was staring at economic uncertainties ahead. Little did he know that his 16-year-old son, Mahavir, had acquired skills that would come

Masks: Awareness: near-total, compliance: half-way

Wearing a face mask is the first line of defence against the novel coronavirus, along with maintaining social distance and frequently washing hands with soap. More than six months after the outbreak of Covid-19, nearly 90 percent of people in India have become aware of the necessity of wearing a face mask,

Covid-19: Daily recoveries cross 1 lakh mark, new cases far fewer

Is India finally gaining an upper hand over the Covid-19 pandemic? After weeks of new cases hitting 90,000-plus every day, the tide seems to be turning, as the number came down to 75,083 on Tuesday, and the recoveries were not only higher than that but crossed the 1 lakh mark too. The countr

A travelogue of an inner pilgrimage

Sit Your Self Down A Novice’s Journey into the Heart of Vipassana By Gayatri Jayaraman Hachette India, 212 pages, Rs 399 As stress and strife increase in daily life, more and more people are turning to meditation as an all

Vote in the time of Covid: EC hosts global webinar

On completion of one year of the chairmanship of the Association of World Election Bodies (A-WEB), the Election Commission (EC) of India on Monday hosted an international webinar on the theme of “Issues, Challenges and Protocols for Conducting Elections during COVID-19 : Sharing Country