The present mode of election funding has been a subject of hot discussion amidst the intelligentsia. Thinkers are unanimous in holding that covert election funding of political parties is the topmost source of corruption in general. As we know, most political parties accept donations in cash from sources that are never revealed. The political parties are mandated to report any donation over Rs. 20,000 to the IT Department. But they circumvent this provision by showing more and more receipts in smaller and smaller cash. In order to fulfill the above-noted assurance, the Govt of India has now said to have finalized the Electoral Bond Scheme. This was announced on 28th September, 2017 by Finance Minister Arun Jaitley at a book release named “India @ 70 Modi @ 3.5.

Main Features of Electoral Bond Scheme

1. The Electoral Bonds will be issued by a notified bank, presumably RBI, for specified denominations.
2. One, who wants to donate to a political party, can buy these bonds by digital payments or cheque and gift the same to his favourite political party.
3. The concerned party can convert these bonds back into money through their special bank accounts notified as such by the Election Commission.
4. The name of the donor will be kept a secret by the Bank.
5. These bonds will not provide income tax discounts.
6. No interest will accrue from the bonds.