Cash donations of political parties can be curbed, Election Commission sent proposal to Law Minister
The Election Commission has advocated that the maximum limit of one-time cash donations to political parties should be reduced from Rs 20,000 to Rs 2,000.
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The Election Commission of India has given a proposal to the Central Government regarding cash donations of political parties. In its proposal of the Election Commission, it has been told that the maximum limit of cash donations to political parties should be reduced from 20 thousand rupees to two thousand rupees. Sources gave this information on Monday. According to the commission, the limit of cash in the total donations to all parties should be limited to a maximum of 20 percent or Rs 20 crore so that election donations can be made free from black money.
Election Commission wrote a letter to the Law Minister
Sources related to the government said that Chief Election Commissioner Rajiv Kumar has written a letter to Union Law Minister Kiren Rijiju recommending some amendments in the Representation of the People Act. He said that the purpose of the recommendations of the commission is to improve and bring transparency in the system of donations to political parties. This step has been taken by the commission when it recently removed 284 such parties from the registered list which were not complying with the rules. At the same time, the Income Tax Department had recently raided the premises of many such political units on charges of tax evasion.
Proposal to reduce from 20 thousand to 2 thousand
Sources say that the Election Commission has advocated that the maximum limit of one-time cash donations to political parties should be reduced from 20 thousand rupees to two thousand rupees. As per the existing rules, political parties have to disclose all donations above Rs 20,000 and report it to the commission. Sources said that if this proposal of the commission gets the approval of the Law Ministry, then all donations above Rs 2000 will have to be reported to political parties, which will increase transparency.
Parties may have to give details of election expenditure
The commission has also recommended that a maximum of 20 percent of the total donations received by any political party should be in cash or Rs 20 crore. The Election Commission also wants that during the elections, candidates should open a separate bank account for the election and all the transactions should be done from this account and this information should also be given in the details of election expenses.