In a letter to Union Justice Minister Kiren Rijiju, the CEC has proposed reducing the current level of anonymous political donations. Currently a political donation up to Rs. 20,000 can be made anonymously.
However, the Electoral Commission has proposed reducing that amount to Rs 2,000. The CEC cited that the proposal was made to clean up election funding from black money.
If the proposal then receives a nod, politicians must reveal the identities of those donating more than the amount of Rs. 2,000. After that, the entire contribution will be included in the report that has to be submitted to the electoral commission.
In several cases, political organizations have shown contributions in excess of Rs 20,000. However, the audited accounts revealed that the amount of donations was always less than Rs. 20,000.
According to media reports, the electoral body has recommended several other changes to the Representation of the People Act.
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The polling panel also recommended that every politician should have a separate bank account, even if they contest a different position in the future.
For example, if a person competes for MLA, they must have a bank account. If they fight for MP in the future, a separate account should be created so that the commission can track all transactions that take place.
