Forget transparency, it's a loot for political parties

FM's idea to exempt tax on donations to trusts of parties will encourage corruption, feel experts

Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee's proposal to exempt tax on donations made to trusts run by political parties has received mixed reactions. "Donations to electoral trusts will be allowed 100 per cent deduction from the income of the donor for income tax purposes," said Mukherjee while presenting the Union Budget yesterday.

However, according to many, Mukherjee's intentions of making the process of political funding more transparent will result in more corruption.

Supreme Court lawyer B P S Dhakre said, "Such donations will encourage malpractice because a person will donate his income to political parties and avoid paying tax." He added,"The proposal is a gross violation of Article 14 of the constitution of India. Why should electoral trusts be treated different from other trusts?"

Abolish proposal

"The proposal should be abolished. It allows the political parties to loot the government's money in public view. Political parties will get lots of money and misuse it. What was earlier considered illegal will be now legal," explained Professor B C Das of Delhi University.

Vijay Kumar Malhotra, leader of Opposition in Delhi Assembly said it's not a commendable move. "It should have been decided on the basis of the recommendations of the Indrajit Gupta state funding committee. The government should have held a meeting with all political parties before taking such a decision. It's obvious that political parties will enjoy maximum benefit."

Welcome move

However, there were others who chose to look at the positives. Anil Berwal, spokesperson, Nationalu00a0 Election Watch, an NGO working for electoral reforms, said, "Any move aimed at bringing transparency in our political system should be welcomed."

J P Aggarwal, Congress MP and president, Delhi Pradesh Congress Committee, said, "The proposal will ensure transparency as far as political donations are concerned."

It'll remove dirt from politics

The exemption will help parties collect funds in a transparent manner
Madhav Bhandari, BJP state unit spokesperson

This will ensure black money does not flow into the electoral system.
Anant Gadgil, Congress spokesperson
u00a0
The challenge is to control the flow of black and unaccounted money.
Neelam Gorhe, Shiv Sena spokesperson

(Inputs from Sanjeev Devasia)