The Election Commission has proposed that the maximum limit of one-time cash donations to political parties should be reduced from Rs 20,000 to Rs 2,000 and the limit of cash in the total donation should be limited to a maximum of 20 per cent or Rs 20 crore so that Electoral donations can be freed from black money. Sources gave this information on Monday.
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. The Income Tax Department had also recently raided the premises of several such political units on charges of tax evasion.
Sources say that 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. As per the existing rules, political parties have to disclose all donations above Rs 20,000 and report to the commission.Sources said that if this proposal of the commission is approved by the Law Ministry, then all donations above Rs 2000 will have to be reported to political parties, which will increase transparency.
The commission has also recommended that a maximum of 20 per cent 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.
