Electoral bonds won’t solve all issues:Joti

Electoral bonds won’t solve all issues:Joti

 Context

Electoral bonds will not solve all problems pertaining to transparency in political funding, Chief Election Commissioner A K Joti said today, but hoped that it will be a step in the “right direction”

News

Electoral bonds will not solve all problems pertaining to transparency in political funding, Chief Election Commissioner A K Joti said today, but hoped that it will be a step in the “right direction”

Electoral bonds

These were introduced by the government to make funding to political parties transparent. They allow a political donor to purchase bonds from authorised banks and can be redeemed by parties only through registered accounts in a prescribed time frame

• An electoral bond can be purchased by any citizen of India or a body incorporated in India
• The bonds will be issued in multiples of Rs 1,000, Rs 10,000, Rs 1 lakh, Rs 10 lakh and Rs 1 crore, and will be available at specified branches of the State Bank of India
• Donors can donate the bonds to their party of choice which can then be cashed via the party’s verified account within 15 days
• Every party that is registered under section 29A of the Representation of the People Act, 1951, and has secured at least one per cent of the votes polled in the most recent Lok Sabha or assembly election will be allotted a verified account by the Election Commission. Electoral bond transactions can be made only via that account

Read more: You can read more about electoral bonds here

Backdrop

Responding to questions at a press conference on the possible use of electoral bonds by people to fund parties during the upcoming Assembly polls in Meghalaya, Tripura and Nagaland, the CEC said the bonds will “definitely” be used as the finance ministry has already notified their availability

 Commission’s earlier views

The commission, in a written submission to the parliamentary standing committee on law and personnel in May, had said changes made in the election laws after the introduction of the bonds would compromise transparency in political fundings

 “The amendment in section 29 C of the Representation of the People Act, 1951 making it no longer necessary to report details of donations received through electoral bonds is a retrograde step as transparency of political funding would be compromised as a result of the change”