Electoral Bonds
About Electoral Bonds:
- Election bonds are a convenient way for anyone to contribute money to political parties.
- To be eligible for election bonds, a political party must be recognised under Section 29A of the Representation of the People Act of 1951 and have received at least 1% of the vote in the most recent general election for the House of People or the State’s Legislative Assembly.
- One can use a check or an electronic payment method to purchase the bonds at authorised State Bank of India locations. There are available multiples of 1,000, 10,000, one lakh, ten lakh, and one crore rupees (cash is not allowed).
- The following step is for the giver to select the Bond’s recipient or recipients.
When and why were election bonds first introduced?
- The amount of cash contributions from unidentified sources that a political party may take was cut by an amendment to the Income Tax (IT) Act from Rs 20,000 to Rs 2,000.
- The administration unveiled a brand-new programme for issuing electoral bonds in the 2017 Budget.
- Openness: The main goal of the electoral bonds programme was to increase the financial transparency of Indian elections.
- The method makes sure that a donor’s identity is kept confidential.
- Ordinary people can easily donate money to the political parties of their choice thanks to election bonds.
Why are electoral bonds controversial?
- The anonymity of electoral bonds, according to opponents, benefits only the general public and rival political parties.
- By selling the bonds through a government-owned bank, the government is able to identify the precise source of money for its opponents (SBI).
- Privacy is jeopardised because the bank will be aware of the donor’s identity.
- Unfair advantage: As a result, the ruling party has the authority to extort money from large corporations or to punish them if they refuse to do so.
