In order to “cleanse the system of political funding in the country” and in keeping with the government’s desire to move to a cashless economy, Union Government of India launched electoral bonds scheme.The scheme, announced during the 2017 Budget, aims to account the donations made to all major political parties.
An electoral bond is designed to be a bearer instrument like a Promissory Note — in effect, it will be similar to a bank note that is payable to the bearer on demand and free of interest. It can be purchased by any citizen of India or a body incorporated in India.The bonds are issued in multiples of ₹1,000, ₹10,000, ₹1 lakh, ₹10 lakh and ₹1 crore and are available at specified branches of State Bank of India. They can be bought by the donor with a KYC-compliant account. Donors can donate the bonds to their party of choice which can then be cashed in via the party's verified account within 15 days.The bonds are available for purchase for a period of 10 days each in the beginning of every quarter, i.e. in January, April, July and October as specified by the Central Government.
The government claims that since these bonds are purchased through banking channels the scheme will eliminate the infusion of black money into electoral funding. But not only is this argument palpably false, as a simple reading of the scheme’s terms shows us, the programme also virtually endorses corruption in political funding. For example, the fact that the scheme allows for complete anonymity of the donor. Neither the purchaser of the bond nor the political party receiving the donation is mandated to disclose the donor’s identity. Therefore, not only will, say, the shareholders of a corporation be unaware of the company’s contributions, but the voters too will have no idea of how, and through whom, a political party has been funded.
So, Some reforms in this scheme is needed and in order to “cleanse the system of political funding in the country” gight steps by Goverment should be taken with good and healthy laws which one can trust. Going forward, there is little doubt that democracy will be the biggest casualty if electoral bonds see the light of day. National Electoral Fund to which all donors can contribute. The funds would be allocated to political parties in proportion to the votes they get. Not only would this protect the identity of donors, it would also weed out black money from political funding. But without pressure from the citizenry, it is unlikely to interest a political class hell-bent on insulating itself from public accountability.
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